Bright Seraphim
by Starherd
Summary: After the events of FF7, Sephiroth reappears... in this world... at a SciFi Convention, snowed in, with Jenova in his head... and a murderer on the loose. Is he the killer? Who Will Survive? Minor Clock Tower xover, Seph x OC, mind the violence
1. Prologue 00

**Author's Note:** Hello all! This is my first ever post to fanfiction.net, and the beginning of an 18-chapter story that I began shortly after Final Fantasy VII came out. If you'd like more, please read and respond. :-)  
  


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**Bright Seraphim**  
**Zero**  
  
He was already walking when he awoke.  
  
He sensed that he was cold, but other than folding his arms around his chest, there was nothing he could do about it.  
  
For a long time his eyes registered only a white blur as his environment. Gradually his eyes adjusted -- snow. He was surrounded by snow.  
  
He stopped for a moment, looking at his footprints trailing out behind him in a relatively straight path. He was standing in a seemingly endless white snow field, with more fluffy flakes drifting persistently downward.  
  
He continued in the direction he'd been going. He didn't know why. There was no reason to change...  
  
He was a tall, lithe, sharp-featured man. He wore a long coat, silken pants, gloves, and high boots -- all black. The leather belt at his waist bore a silver emblem whose origin, at the moment, was lost to him. Over his shoulders he wore cold metal armor, the strapping of which crossed his bare chest. An impossibly long sword hung on his back. Most striking about him was his hair, smooth and silver-gray, which flowed down to his thighs as he walked, covering the bare sword but never cut by it. His icy blue-green eyes were half-closed, hidden under his long bangs.  
  
There was a taste in his mouth, sharp enough to sting. _Mako._ He paused long enough to scoop snow into his mouth and spit, trying to wash the painful flavor away. _Better..._  
  
He eventually realized that it was night -- the snow drifts now showed a dull blue-gray, and the sky was a blanket of thick gray cotton clouds.  
  
_Cloud_  
  
He'd fallen to his knees in the sudden darkness. He stood and began to walk again.  
  
_Who am I?_  
  
No answer.  
  
Why did he expect an answer?  
  
As he walked, he picked up the pieces of his memory and started to patiently puzzle them together.  
  
Two pieces connected.  
  
_I am Sephiroth._  
  
Another piece.  
  
_The warrior._  
  
_The greatest warrior._  
  
_The greatest of SOLDIER._  
  
He decided to try to decipher "SOLDIER" later. He wanted to concentrate on his identity, not his occupation.  
  
...So why were there so few pieces to his identity?  
  
_I am Sephiroth._  
  
_My family... My mother. My mother is... was... was Jenova._ _**JENOVA**_  
  
Something flashed in his mind.  
  
He discovered that it was difficult to breathe, and realized that he was lying face down in the snow. He turned over and stared at the snowflakes falling peacefully out of the bleak sky. Calm and unhurried, they slowly wended their ways downward, gently melting where they touched his skin. After a while they began to lay there, tenderly covering him.  
  
He noticed something pressing into his back. He reached over his shoulder and touched his sword. _Masamune._  
  
The warrior called Sephiroth struggled to his feet, pushing his hair away from his face. The snow, slightly disappointed, fell away from him.  
  
He had to keep moving.  
  
Close behind him, new snow erased his footprints.  
  


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**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


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	2. Chapter 01

**Bright Seraphim**  
**One**  
  
_"You're sorta... stuck where you are  
But in your dreams, you can buy expensive cars,  
And live on Mars,  
And have it Your Way..."_  
  
She was singing aloud to the tape that was playing in her car's deck. It was one of her favorite song assortments, designed to keep her singing - and therefore awake - on long car trips such as this one.  
  
It was only nine o'clock, but it had already been dark for a while, and the snow was making it difficult to drive. The snowflakes swirled enticingly in the headlights of her 1986 baby blue Pontiac T-1000, quietly trying to mesmerize her. She denied them and concentrated on the road. What was left of the road. Currently it was only a slight, regular depression in a rolling white sea.  
  
_"And you hate your boss at your job,  
But in your dreams,  
You can blow his head off.  
In your dreams, Show No Mercy..."_  
  
Her name was Julia Amber Zelazney, called Jaz by her few friends. Jaz had been her computer user ID during college, which from which she had graduated the previous spring. She was of average height and build, currently dressed in blue jeans, sneakers and a green velour shirt, covered by a dark green trench coat. She wore black, tight-fitting gloves to protect her hands from the car's cool atmosphere - the heater didn't work too well. She had very fair skin and a few freckles, and her fire-colored hair just brushed her shoulders. She'd always been pleased with her hair - it was a nice color, so its cut and style, or lack thereof, weren't too important.  
  
The song ended; another began.  
  
_"To the whole room her eyes are numb  
As she reads from a true love story  
From the pages of a book her lover comes  
Her heart bleeds, it's a true love story..."_  
  
"Sure, Katie," she said out loud as the song began. "Sure, I'll keep the bookstore open the extra couple of days while you drag all the stuff out to the convention in Pittsburgh. Sure, I'll drag out everything you forgot. Sure, I'll drive out after closing the store the night before the convention..." She squinted uneasily at the road, her pale green eyes narrowing to cut out the glare caused by the car's low beams. "Katie, you're sooooo lucky that this is my vacation. I get a whole weekend, by myself as much as I want, in a whole suite of my own..." Now she grinned. "And I'm just going to sit and make costumes for people anyway. The advantage is that I don't have to be around your twelve year old nephew if I don't want to, and you're stuck with 'im..."  
  
_"Only in the blue night, he comes to her  
Only in the blue night  
That's when the whole night belongs to her  
Only in the blue night..."_  
  
"On the other hand, I'm the cheapskate who would rather drive Rt. 22 in the worst weather of the year than pay to take the Turnpike..." Jaz mentally smacked her forehead. "Brilliant move. Truly brilliant." Taking Rt. 22 trapped her for a slightly longer amount of time in a poorly heated car, filled with costumes, books, and the perpetual, stale scent of disintegrating foam rubber. She wondered if it mightn't be good to start thinking of finding a new car.  
  
The car crested a hill and she saw that the road was a little more visible on this side. She let the car speed up a bit on the way down.  
  
Near the base of the hill, she glimpsed something in the low beams, a darker streak in the spaces between snowflakes. For less than a second she thought that she'd driven off of the road and was heading for a tree. Her foot was already pressing the break when it struck her, with much horror, that there was someone standing in the road.  
  
The wheels locked.  
  
The car slid downhill in the snow; Jaz twisted the non-power steering wheel and the Pontiac knifed sideways, striking the figure with the left front fender.  
  
The car fishtailed to a halt, pointing straight again, headlights staring down at the crumpled figure in the road.  
  
Jaz sat rigid, gripping the wheel tightly, in danger of hyperventilating. She opened and closed her mouth several times until sound was forced out. "Oh... Oh God... Help..." Her mind and heart were racing, praying for help far faster and louder than she could voice.  
  
She suddenly sprang into action, shoving open the driver's side door and twisting to get out. The seat belt dug painfully into her waist; she desperately unfastened it and jumped out, leaving the door open and the car idling.  
  
She had barely stumbled to the front of the car when the collapsed figure arose with a flurry of motion and snow. Jaz staggered to a stop and fell backward as a long streak of light slashed at her.  
  
Half-sitting, her eyes followed the streak - a sword, her mind registered - to its source, then up to the wielder's face.  
  
For a moment their eyes met.  
  
Jaz's mind shut down. She felt light-headed, as though she'd been holding her breath for too long.  
  
The silver-haired man's luminous eyes half-closed and rolled back slightly. He fell to one side, barely trying to stop himself; the sword rolled from his fingers and tumbled softly into the snow.  
  
For a few seconds, Jaz remained motionless - she could still feel the burning ice-green eyes staring at her. Through her.  
  
She was momentarily certain that she'd hit an angel.  
  
She remembered the sword, and noted the man's black clothing, and wondered what kind of angel.  
  
_Maybe an alien, then,_ She thought as she unsteadily got to her feet. She merely stared down at the prone form for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do, and how a guy with a sword could keep his hair that long. She paced nervously back and forth.  
  
_He seemed to be all right..._  
  
_But he's unconscious now. He might have internal injuries or something._  
  
_I can't just leave him here._  
  
She made up her mind.  
  
Jaz entered the car again long enough to remove the keys from the ignition. Ignoring the vehicle's irate buzzing informing her that she'd left the lights on, she opened the hatchback.  
  
The Pontiac was too small and too full for her to lay him down in the back seat, but by moving things around and putting down the back, she could fit the sword in diagonally and put him in the front seat. She made sure to put the point nearer the back of the car - she didn't want to be skewered if she made a sudden stop.  
  
She carefully closed the trunk and jammed the keys back into the ignition. _Now the hard part..._  
  
She opened the passenger side door and leaned the empty seat back a little, then approached the stranger. She circled him twice, uncertain as to how to proceed. Finally she knelt and attempted to roll him onto his back, which she managed with some effort. His shoulder-armor was in the way. She stuffed her driving gloves into her coat pockets and tugged at the straps on his chest, trying to remove the armor. Several unrelated thoughts were rampaging through her head, such as _Dang, this guy is **built**,_ and _What kind of a **nut** goes out in weather like this with a coat and no shirt?!_  
  
Her fingers touched his skin as she undid the straps; it was a slight shock, but once that passed, all she noticed was how cold he was. _Too cold._ But he was breathing peacefully, and his eyelids were moving. He was dreaming.  
  
Jaz threw the armor in the back seat and dug into her luggage, pulling out a thick decorative blanket that had been intended as a table cloth for her friend Katie's bookstall at the convention. She left the throw blanket in the driver's seat.  
  
After several tries, she managed to pull the man to the passenger side and sit him up. She pulled his hair forward - somehow it was still silky, not matted - so that it wouldn't be in the way, then pulled his right arm over her shoulders and tried to stand, pushing him into the car at the same time.  
  
It took several minutes of arranging to get him in properly. At last, Jaz reached across him and pulled the blanket over him, then fastened the seat belt over that. She pulled his hair out and around to the right side, unintentionally running her fingers through the cool strands. She stopped herself, decided that becoming more fascinated with him would be unhealthy, and contented herself with wondering how he'd managed to get his hair so long in the first place, and how he could stand to keep it that way.  
  
She shut the passenger door carefully, circled around the back of the car to make sure that the trunk was properly closed, and hopped into the driver's seat, slamming her door. She cupped her bare hands and blew into them, electing not to put her gloves back on just yet, and turned the key.  
  
Several silent minutes down the road, the cassette tape in the car's player switched sides with an ominous click.  
  
The player had accidentally been dialed to maximum volume, and Jaz couldn't reach the knobs in time.  
  
The opening cries of "Circle of Life" from _The Lion King_ howled out of the car's speakers.  
  
Jaz yelped; at the same time, the man jolted awake and gasped. Jaz quickly switched off the player, already apologizing as her had flew back to the steering wheel. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean for that to happen... Are you all right?"  
  
The man didn't seem to be paying attention. His eyes were clenched shut, and he was struggling frantically against the confining seat belt and blanket.  
  
Jaz slowed the car to a standstill, close to panic herself. She reached in his direction, unsure of whether she meant to hold him back or merely to try to get his attention, keeping her left hand on the steering wheel. "Hey! It's OK, it's OK -"  
  
He stilled instantly as her hand came to rest on his shoulder. He looked at her through his bangs, suddenly calm.  
  
Blushing, Jaz pulled her hand away and turned her attention back to the road. Now that he was calm, the man easily worked his hands free of the constraints, still looking at her. He brushed his hair away from his face and glanced around, quickly taking in his new surroundings.  
  
"I... I didn't know what to do," Jaz stammered, giving him a quick, sheepish look. "I don't have a cell phone, so I couldn't call for help, so I thought that I could at least get you to a hospital..." She gave a distressed sigh. "I'm really sorry - I didn't even see you until it was too late..." She restrained herself from asking what the deal was with the sword and the shirt-lacking outfit.  
  
The answer to that question was suddenly obvious to her. "Oh... You're on your way to the SteelCon too, huh? I bet you broke down back there somewhere - I never would've seen your car in the snow - that's what happened, right?" She was relieved to have a plausible explanation. She glanced at him again when he didn't answer. "...Right?" she asked more timidly.  
  
He stared at her blankly, then a kind of comprehension dawned on his face. He spoke, but his words, though obviously a statement and a question, were unlike any language that Jaz had ever heard. It sounded like a cross between Japanese and a less flowing European language, possibly Latin based.  
  
Jaz was confused. "What - what language is that? Where are you from?"  
  
The man opened his mouth, then shut it again and sighed, muttering something else. He folded his arms and lowered his head, shaking it.  
  
Jaz glanced at him again, looking more distressed. "You... weren't off to the convention, were you?"  
  
He looked up again, giving her a small, sad, helpless smile.  
  
"I guess not," Jaz sighed, alternating quickly between looking at her passenger and watching the road. She found herself wanting to make the smile less sad and immediately realized that she was blushing again. This time she jerked her head, hoping that her hair would fall forward and hide her face.  
  
The man's smile suddenly disappeared entirely. "Masamune!" he exclaimed, as though he'd just remembered something very important.  
  
"What? What is it? What'd I do?!" Jaz's grip on the steering wheel tightened.  
  
He looked desperate for a moment, unable to communicate. When she looked again, he reached for her arm in order to keep her attention and curled his hands around air, one above the other as though holding something. He swung the invisible something downward -  
  
"Oh! In the back," Jaz gasped in relief. "The sword's in the back." She gestured. "That's it, right?"  
  
He followed her gesture and twisted to look behind his seat, then visibly relaxed. He said something that sounded relieved and gently touched her shoulder as he turned back around.  
  
After a minute or two of riding in silence, Jaz spoke again. "I'm Julia Zelazney, by the way. Not that that means much to you, I guess. Mostly people call me Jaz, OK?" She pointed to herself, hoping that he understood. It always worked in the movies. "Jaz."  
  
He had tilted his head slightly, brow furrowed. His face lightened and he nodded.  
  
"So... what do I call you?" She asked, then tried to make herself clear. She gestured to herself again. "Jaz -" and then to him, holding her palm upward.  
  
He nodded again, somewhat hesitantly, then held his hand flat above his chest. "Sephiroth."  
  
"Sephiroth?" She questioned, trying to make sure. He nodded.  
  
"OK. Sephiroth." She smiled weakly at him. "So... next question: what do I do with you once we get to Pittsburgh?"  
  


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**Author's Note:** The lyrics are from, respectively, "Bad Days" by the Flaming Lips (available on the _Batman Forever_ soundtrack album) and "Blue Night" by Mike Oldfield (available on his album _Earth Moving_). Thanks for reading! :-)  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


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	3. Chapter 02

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Two**  
  
Some time later, Jaz pulled into the nearly empty parking lot of a twenty-four hour Wal-Mart. The only reason that the snow here was several inches rather than a foot deep was because the lot had been repeatedly plowed for the first few hours of the snowfall. The plows had long since given up.  
  
Jaz had decided what to do with Sephiroth when they reached Pittsburgh. At the hotel where the convention was being held, she'd gotten one of the best suites for herself - her idea of a luxurious vacation. She'd just share it with him. It wasn't like she could do anything else with him in this storm anyway...  
  
She had no idea of what to do once the storm ended. Maybe by then they'd be able to communicate, and he'd know what to do. Or maybe Katie wouldn't mind a third house mate, at least for a while... maybe...  
  
A self-preservation instinct derailed that train of thought as Jaz parked. She turned the headlights off but let the car idle so that it would stay warm. Sephiroth peered at her questioningly.  
  
She reached behind her into a bag in the back seat, rummaging around until she triumphantly produced a tape measure. "I figured that some warmer clothing would be good," she said, unrolling the cloth tape. "Don't worry, I do costumes. I've gotten pretty good at figuring sizes..."  
  
Jaz managed to remain very professional about most of the measuring, but at certain points she had trouble keeping her mind from wandering. Only the fact that he was watching her kept her from a few bouts of insane giggling.  
  
With the necessary data in hand, Jaz opened her door and hopped out. "I'll be right back," she told him.  
  
Sephiroth waited, wrapping the blanket tighter around his shoulders. After a few minutes he began to drift off to sleep... He felt a presence near him. He couldn't place its location, but he knew that it was there.  
  
"~~ Hello, my dear. ~~"  
  
His head jerked up. Memories of everything that had happened - everything - flooded into his head. It was too much at once.  
  
"~~ You failed me, child. I'm very disappointed in you. ~~"  
  
He remembered a thousand terrible things that he'd done. Some of them he'd had no control over. Worse yet, some of them he had.  
  
He remembered finding out that his poor excuse for a life was more of a lie than he'd thought. Remembered deciding not to care (had he ever?). Remembered the joy of finding his mother alive, of freeing her.  
  
"~~ I... I thought you were dead, ~~" he said in a hoarse whisper, his throat tight. "~~ The boy. Cloud. He killed you. ~~"  
  
He remembered how he'd fallen the first time, dying, into the lifestream - his mother had saved him, sent him to a safe place to heal at her own expense. He remembered how she took his shape for her own. He'd invited her at first, when he'd been too weak to send out his mind as she could. She had been beautiful to him, had wanted freedom, a body of her own. She'd wanted revenge against those who had imprisoned her - an easy thing for a warrior such as himself to understand.  
  
"~~ Now, now. Only my body, my dear -- ~~"  
  
Sephiroth gritted his teeth. _It was mine!_  
  
"~~ - As he did yours. I tried to defeat his mind, but he was too strong, with me in such a weakened state... It was interesting, though, that his mind chose your form for me. Perhaps he had grown used to it. I don't think he likes you very much. ~~" She seemed to be amused by the thought.  
  
He remembered how their minds had traveled together, both cloaked in his shape. It had been good, until he began to watch her more closely. Until Cloud - whom she had claimed was weak and under her control - had proved that he had a mind of his own. Until he had realized that she was lying to him.  
  
"~~ ...But he is not here now. _We_ are here. ~~"  
  
Sephiroth's head was swimming. He saw his reflection in the vehicle's windows; it smiled back at him.  
  
He wasn't smiling.  
  
"~~ Where, ~~" he managed. "~~ Where is... here? ~~"  
  
"~~ Unknown, ~~" the entity on the other side of the reflection sighed. "~~ This is a different world altogether. It has an entirely new flavor... But we are alive. The lifestream rebuilt your body to house us both and cast us out. ~~" The voice was pleased now. "~~ In that, at least, I thank you... My son. A better guard could not have been chosen for me, I believe. ~~"  
  
"Jenova." Sephiroth clenched his fists. "~~ I. Am. Not. Your. Son. ~~" The smile in the reflection faded, giving him the strength to continue. "~~ I want no part of you. You no longer rule me. ~~"  
  
His right arm suddenly felt as though it had been ripped apart; he gasped and cradled it against his chest. There was nothing visibly wrong with it.  
  
"~~ Then you are not my son. ~~" Jenova was cold, dispassionate, watching his pain with satisfaction. "~~ But I own you, and you _will_ obey me. Else I _will_ punish you...~~"  
  
Sephiroth did the only thing he could to stop her.  
  
He blacked out.  
  


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**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


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	4. Chapter 03

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Three**  
  
The snow was nearly too deep to drive through by the time that Jaz pulled into the hotel's parking garage. She skidded slightly turning on to the ramp. "...Glad there's nowhere else I need to go for a while," she said out loud as she searched for a parking space. Sephiroth did not respond; he'd been asleep since before she'd come out of the Wal-Mart.  
  
Jaz was in luck; she found a parking space near a hall that led to the lobby. She pulled in and shut the car down, then sat and stared openly at her passenger for a few minutes. Finally and with great reluctance she tapped him on the shoulder. "Umm... Hello? Sephiroth? We're here."  
  
He gave a start as he awoke, but immediately recognized his surroundings and favored her with a small, somewhat apologetic smile. Jaz smiled back shyly and quickly turned away to open the door. "Just wait here for a moment and I'll go check in," she said quickly, closing the door and nearly running for the glass entrance to the lobby.  
  
In a few minutes she returned, pulling a dolly behind her and brandishing a pair of key cards. "This'll let us use the garage elevator entrance as well as the suite," she said as she popped the trunk. "Cool, huh?"  
  
He still had no idea of what she was saying, but he helped her to stack her boxes and luggage on the flatbed dolly. Lastly, Masamune and his armor were placed on top, wrapped in the blanket.  
  
The reached the elevator at the same time as another woman with a dolly. They gave each other only a polite nod of greeting, then entered the lift.  
  
On the way up, the other woman kept glancing at Sephiroth. With a strategic toss of her blonde head, she finally asked, "You guys here for the convention too?" She was looking directly at Sephiroth, expecting him to answer.  
  
Jaz panicked, but fell back on her four college years in the Drama department. "Yep, Dealers' Room," she said easily. "Dragonthorn Books and Costumes." She was inwardly satisfied by the vaguely disgusted look that the blonde woman shot at her.  
  
The elevator came to a stop and chimed as the doors opened, rescuing Jaz from further danger.  
  
"I'll have to stop by," the woman said, beaming a brilliant smile at Sephiroth, who politely bared his teeth. Jaz tugged at his sleeve as she wheeled the dolly out; he followed a little more quickly than she expected and gave an audible sigh of relief as soon as the lift doors shut.  
  
Jaz giggled, then rolled her eyes. _Jeez, now I'm giggling,_ she mentally snapped at herself. _Next I'll have little pink and red hearts popping over my head like in the cartoons..._  
  
It didn't take long to unload and return the dolly, once they found the suite. Jaz timidly approached Sephiroth and handed him the Wal-Mart bags. "These should fit all right," she declared, putting on her best costume-business face. She held up a finger and turned to search one of the boxes, then returned and handed him a pair of scissors she'd found. "That's for the tags... I didn't know if you liked boxers or briefs better, so I got both..."  
  
She realized that she was babbling and that he had no idea of what she was saying anyhow (thank goodness), and shrugged.  
  
She turned him around and gave him a shove toward the bathroom, which opened off of the bedroom. He paused only to glance into the bags, then nodded and proceeded in that direction.  
  
_At least he seems familiar enough with this culture to know what's going on,_ Jaz thought.  
  
She stood staring at the closed bathroom door for a moment, wringing her hands, then made a dash for the phone on the bedside stand. It was the upright cordless kind that rested on a base.  
  
She dialed for the front desk. "Hello...? Could you tell me the number for Katie Sanderson's suite? Is she there yet? ...Thanks."  
  
She dialed again. "Hullo, Katie? Yeah, I finally made it... I, um, ran into some trouble on the road... Yep, it's snowing to beat the band, but that's not all. I'll have to show you... No, the Pontiac's fine..."  
  
The bathroom door opened. Jaz looked up and smiled, instantly distracted as Sephiroth emerged - luckily he wasn't looking in her direction, so he didn't see the dangerously dreamy expression on her face. He was wearing what she'd gotten him: a thick dark gray sweater and black pants, and comfortable black and gray sneakers.  
  
Somehow, Wal-Mart clothing looked no less dramatic on him than his costume had. _It's the hair. Nobody has hair like that..._  
  
Jaz found her voice again. "Um, Katie? Which suite are you in? ...hey, that's right down the hall... We'll be right there."  
  
The telephone screeched "WE?!" as her thumb switched it off.  
  
Jaz walked to the closet, motioning Sephiroth along, and took his coat from his arm to hang it up. Her garments were already hung, including the gown she'd made for the masquerade ball that would be held on Saturday night. It was currently Thursday.  
  
Sephiroth tapped her shoulder; when she looked, he made a motion of tying his hair back. "Oh..." Jaz began to search through her costumery boxes again, and this time produced a length of leather thong. "Will this do?"  
  
He nodded as he took it and bound his hair into a loose ponytail, leaving his long bangs free. "~~ Much better, thank you, ~~" he said, knowing that the girl would understand the purpose of the phrase.  
  
She said something else, then indicated that he should follow her as she left the room.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	5. Chapter 04

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Four**  
  
Katie's door opened as soon as they turned the corner in the hall; She'd been watching through the peephole. "Jaz, _please_ tell me that you two have eloped, because if you haven't I'll be very disappointed in you."  
  
Jaz rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Katie. I just met 'im." She pushed Sephiroth in ahead of her so that they could get the door closed that much faster.  
  
"You mean he's free?" Katie enthusiastically grabbed up Sephiroth's hand. "And who exactly do I have the honor of meeting? I'm Katie Sanderson, I'm her house mate." She nodded at Jaz.  
  
"Sephiroth," he answered, guessing that the familiar introductory rituals meant the same in this culture as they did in his.  
  
"Oooh, foreign?" Katie asked Jaz, neglecting to let go of his hand. He tried to pull away with little success.  
  
"Sort of, I guess," Jaz responded, feeling a little uncomfortable. "He doesn't speak English."  
  
"Well," Katie said as she led them further into her suite. "Why don't you tell me how you ran into this gorgeous foreign hunk o' meat, then?"  
  
"_Katie!_"  
  
"Well, you said he doesn't speak English --"  
  
"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEG!!!"  
  
The scream came just as they entered the main room. Katie's nephew, who'd been playing video games on the system he'd hooked up to the suite's television, was now trying to hide behind the couch. He defensively brandished the lamp from the couch's end table.  
  
Katie scowled. "Jamie, what is _wrong_ with you?"  
  
Jamie looked genuinely terrified. "You - he - he's not real!"  
  
"What, him?" Katie looked back at Sephiroth. "Well, I _thought_ he was too good to be true..." She grinned. "Jamie, if you're going to swing the lamp around like that, could you at least unplug it?"  
  
Sephiroth was frowning. He didn't know what world this was, but it appeared that someone recognized him. He was ready to turn and leave - then he felt a hand on his arm. Jaz was looking up at him with concern... then again, that might have been an I-am-going-to-be-really-pissed-if-you-turn-out-to-be-a-mass-murderer-or-something expression.  
  
"But - he's -"  
  
"Spit it out, Jamie," Katie said impatiently. "What do you think's wrong with him?"  
  
Jamie got mad and momentarily forgot to be afraid. "Well, if you _must_ know, he's -" the boy took a very deep breath. "Sephiroth is the psycho-villain from _Final Fantasy VII_ who went nuts when he found out that he was genetically engineered using DNA from this unkillable alien-monster-thing called Jenova and he freed the Jenova thing and generally set about destroying the world. He summoned a meteor to crash into it and everything. The good guys defeat 'im and stop the meteor in the end, but the game never makes it clear if they saved the world or not... Or even if it was him in the end battle or Jenova... or... well... it's not a very clear game sometimes..." He trailed off, out of breath.  
  
The three of them just stared at Jamie. Finally Katie snapped out of it. "That's it, Jamie. Time for bed. I don't think you should play any more video games for a while, either."  
  
"Well then where'd he come from?" Jamie squawked indignantly. "You said he doesn't speak English. What language does he speak?"  
  
Sephiroth reached for the back of a chair. The boy had named Jenova three times, and his head was pounding with the sound of it. He could almost hear her smiling in his mind. He closed his eyes, hoping that the room would stop spinning, and leaned heavily against the chair.  
  
"That's enough, Jamie," Katie said in a flat voice.  
  
Jaz, however, answered Jamie. "I've never heard the language he speaks," she said, suddenly a bit bewildered. "And I -" she decided to leave out the part about hitting him with the Pontiac. "I found him in the snow on the road in Somerset. I thought he was on the way to the convention, from the way he was dressed, and I thought his car must've broken down..."  
  
"Don't _you_ start," Katie growled at Jaz. "Look, all of us here are sci-fi/fantasy fans. What's the one big thing we always have to be aware of, eh? IT'S NOT REAL! None of it is really real, no matter how much we wish and write and play. Cross-overs happen in fanfics only. We all know that, right?"  
  
"...But what if it _did_ happen?" Jaz murmured, not quite able to believe what she was saying. "What if all these unreal things that we like _could_ be real?"  
  
Katie glared alternately at Jaz and Jamie. "I am _not_ debating the mutable nature of reality with you two," she snapped. She turned to Sephiroth. "Where are you from, Sweden? Germany? Russia?"  
  
"Look at his eyes," Jamie suggested. He'd lost his fear somewhere several minutes back. "Tell me if it's possible for human eyes from this world to look like that."  
  
Sephiroth had been rubbing his forehead with one hand, but was now just holding his hand there, trying to stay conscious. He was barely breathing, his eyes still closed, his muscles tensed. Her jaw set, Jaz reached up and laid her hand on the far side of his face, turning him toward her.  
  
She looked into his face; he didn't open his eyes at first. She noticed something else strange about him - though his eyebrows matched his silver hair as expected, his lashes were long and dark gray, nearly black. It was an odd, but beautiful, combination.  
  
He opened his eyes and stared back at her. As she'd seen before, they were crystal, icy sea-green in color... and at the moment, they looked particularly deep...  
  
"Contacts," Katie said from where she'd been hanging just over Jaz's shoulder. "Contact lenses." Katie moved away.  
  
Jaz jumped at the sudden voice, nearly looked away, but Sephiroth moved to hold her gaze. He stared in wonder at her. The moment she had touched him, his head had cleared.  
  
Jaz realized that his hand now hovered a centimeter above hers at the side of his face. She felt her cheeks reddening and quickly tried to snatch her hand away - and stopped with the shadow of her hand lying across his eyes.  
  
"Ummm, Katie... They, um, they glow..." She moved her hand back and forth a little, making sure that the faint luminescence wasn't a figment of her currently overstimulated imagination.  
  
"You can do that with contacts too," Katie snapped without looking.  
  
"And he's got slitted pupils."  
  
"You can do that with -"  
  
"Not and have them contract and expand," Jaz responded, sure of what she saw now. "I know, I've been hoping for contacts like that for a while now..." The shock of his eyes had lessened, and she was even more fascinated than she had been before.  
  
Jamie was still behind the couch, but he'd put the lamp down. "See?" he demanded, arms righteously folded. "I _told_ you..."  
  
Katie was still trying to hold on to what reality she had. "All right then, Mr. Know-it-all," she challenged Jamie. "You beat the game. Doesn't that mean he's supposed to be dead? You said he was defeated."  
  
"Sure, he was defeated," Jamie said sagely. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that he's dead."  
  
  
  
Some time later, after much arguing, Katie finally gave up. While Jamie enthusiastically told them the story of _Final Fantasy VII_, she dug her tea kettle out of her luggage and made hot chocolate, stating that none of them really needed coffee at the moment.  
  
"It's just my luck, really," Jaz sighed. "Realities finally collide in my vicinity, and they spit out somebody I've never heard of." She accepted the hot chocolate that Katie offered her and settled herself onto the couch. she sipped her drink, glancing sideways as Katie tentatively handed a mug to Sephiroth beside her. "...I stopped playing video games at the wrong time," she added with remorse.  
  
"I'd like to point out something here," Katie said, waving her hand for attention. "He doesn't _act_ like he's lost his mind...  
  
"Maybe he found it again," Jaz said softly. The expression she wore when she looked at Sephiroth set off alarm bells in Katie's head.  
  
"...And why the heck is he alive, Jamie?" Katie demanded. "You didn't tell us that."  
  
"_I_ don't know!" Jamie was becoming exasperated. Why wouldn't his aunt just look and see what had happened? It was _obvious!_ "Maybe he was Jenova's puppet the whole time and the Lifestream took pity on him and spit him back out. Maybe he's a clone or he regenerated or something; Jenova could do that. Maybe he's from before the end of the game."  
  
Jaz glanced at Sephiroth, who had tensed the second that Jamie had mentioned Jenova. "Jamie, he doesn't like it when you talk about (Jenova)," she said, mouthing rather than speaking the name.  
  
"I think he knows what happened," Katie quietly mused.  
  
Jamie pounced on the thought. "Aha! You _do_ believe it's him now, don't you!"  
  
Katie stuck her tongue out at him in answer. "So," she continued, "what are we going to do with him? Are we just going to let him hang around until he berserks again?"  
  
"I'll keep an eye on him," Jaz found herself saying. She stopped, surprised at herself.  
  
Katie raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't have any trouble with that."  
  
"Katie!"  
  
"I know _I_ wouldn't," Katie added with a smirk.  
  
Jamie rolled his eyes. "And here _I'm_ supposed to be the one with the rabid hormones," muttered the pre-teen.  
  
"Shut up," Jaz and Katie simultaneously commanded.  
  
After a momentary lull, Jaz shook her head. "I've been driving all day and he looks beat, so I hereby declare it to be bed time," she yawned. "I'll come down and help you tend the booth tomorrow..."  
  
"Bring him along," Jamie piped up. "I'll show him how to play _Tekken 2_." He eagerly held up a game CD case.  
  
"Uhh... OK," Jaz responded with raised eyebrows. She motioned for Sephiroth to get up as she stood and handed her empty hot chocolate mug to Katie. He followed suit.  
  
"Time for you to go to bed too, it's 2:00 AM," Katie told Jamie. "Go brush your teeth."  
  
"Awww --"  
  
"Hey, I don't want to have your dad mad at me. I grew up with him, I know what he's like. You have not yet experienced the full horror..."  
  
"All right, I'm going, I'm going..." Jamie rolled his eyes and made a great show of stumbling off toward the bathroom.  
  
Katie followed Jaz and Sephiroth to the door and opened it for them. "Um, Jaz?" she asked hesitantly, leaning on the door's edge.  
  
"Yep, I've got my key card," Jaz instinctively answered.  
  
"Er... That wasn't what I was going to say..."  
  
Jaz looked at her friend with a slight frown. "Couch," she said in a flat, slightly irritated voice.  
  
Katie sighed with relief. "Whew. OK. Good."  
  
"I'm your house mate, Katie. What kind of girl do you think I am, anyway? You know I've got more self control than to... you know."  
  
"Just making sure. Sorry."  
  
"It's all right... Good night, Katie."  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	6. Chapter 05

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Five**  
  
Jaz led Sephiroth to her suite's bedroom, then left him there while she took her pajamas out of her luggage and went into the bathroom to change. By the time she emerged, Sephiroth was wearing only his black satin pants again, and was curled in a slightly fetal position on one side of the bed. His back was to her, and he lay on top of the blankets, his loosed hair streaming out at his back.  
  
Jaz nearly failed in her resolve right there. It would be so easy to simply lie down next to him and put an arm over his and hug him, he looked so like he needed it...  
  
She didn't. Instead, she took the pillow that he wasn't using and walked around the bottom of the bed. The sword - _Masamune_, he'd called it - rested on the dressers under the windows, still wrapped in the throw blanket. Jaz quietly removed the blanket and lay the sword down again, momentarily gazing at the stripe of snow-filtered light gleaming on the blade.  
  
She carried the throw blanket and pillow out into the suite's common room and arranged them on the couch, preparing to sleep there. Something relentlessly tugged at her tired mind; she crept back into the bedroom.  
  
The soft light from the window laid a pale streak across Sephiroth's shoulder as well as the sword - it was the only light in the room other than the glow from beyond the door. Jaz closed her mind so that only the thought that had brought her here slipped through: _He'll get cold before long._  
  
She pulled the other side of the bed's comforter over him, taking care not to wake him. "Sleep well," she whispered before retiring to her makeshift bed. She closed the bedroom door most of the way behind her.  
  
  
  
Sephiroth opened his eyes; the darkness without mirrored the darkness within. He'd been dreaming. There had been a city of seashells and coral...  
  
He stopped himself. He didn't want to know what would happen if he remembered.  
  
"~~You're weak, boy,~~" a mocking voice purred from near the foot of the bed. "~~Worthless. Look at you.~~"  
  
He steeled himself and looked toward the voice. "~~Go away. You're dead.~~"  
  
Jenova chuckled, full of malice. "~~So long as you live, I live, child.~~" He could see her silhouetted in the moonlight from the window. She turned slightly and her bare skin shimmered silver-blue, her long hair gleaming white. She saw that he looked, and her eyes glowed orange-red. "~~How inappropriate, that one as worthless as you should resemble me,~~" she sighed, running her fingers through her silken hair. "~~Still, I never tire of watching you, though it was far better when I watched _through_ your eyes...~~"  
  
She laughed again, then turned to caress the sword lying on the dressers. "~~You have another one to watch, I see. She is pretty, in a rather... innocent fashion, is she not? Though I was enjoying that boy Cloud far more...~~"  
  
"~~Stop it, Mother. Leave me alone,~~" Sephiroth growled through gritted teeth. Her very presence made his head hurt.  
  
"~~You are not my son,~~" Jenova hissed, suddenly angry. "~~You are a failure. You are worthless.~~"  
  
"~~Fine, then,~~" he snapped, forcing himself to sit up. "~~Let me be a failure. Leave me alone.~~"  
  
"~~You don't seem to believe me,~~" Jenova spat, full of contempt for the sub-creature before her.  
  
He could feel the pain beginning in his bones again as he freed himself of the comforter and stood. He tensed, preparing to fight it. He wouldn't let her win again. He lunged, not for Jenova, but for Masamune.  
  
Jenova stepped calmly aside, watching her disowned son trying to face her, his body shaking with rage and pain. She shook her head. "~~Foolish boy. I'll show you how worthless you are.~~" With that, she turned and disappeared into the suite's darkened common room.  
  
Sephiroth couldn't move fast enough.  
  
He heard Jaz give a single strangled cry.  
  
When he reached the room, Jenova was lying on the couch, beginning to laugh with delight. She was licking blood from her clawed fingers. Jaz - most of Jaz - was lying on the floor in a quickly spreading pool of blood.  
  
Something flashed in his mind. A brown-haired girl - the Cetra - falling from the point of his sword.  
  
"~~NO!~~" Sephiroth sprang forward, straddling Jenova's chest and shoving Masamune against her throat. She was still laughing. "~~There was no reason!~~" His mind was reeling with memories and the image of Jaz's torn body. His eyes stung. "~~No reason! Why - Why would -~~" He broke off, unable to speak further. Another memory flashed in his mind - the words he'd just spoken, screamed at him by someone else - Cloud, with his deep blue eyes brimming with rage.  
  
Though she was still laughing, Jenova's body squirmed desperately underneath him. She couldn't escape. He began to press Masamune down.  
  
The lamp on the couch's end table flicked on. Sephiroth didn't move, but momentarily clamped his eyes shut against the dazzling light.  
  
When he opened his eyes, he was looking down into Jaz's terrified face. She was as stock still as he was, her fingers still touching the lamp switch above her head.  
  
She watched his face, completely unable to look elsewhere. The second that she'd turned the light on, his expression had been one of incredible hatred and anger and pain. As she watched, his expression changed to one of abject horror.  
  
The sword suddenly lifted from her throat and tumbled to the floor. An instant later he followed it, lifting himself unsteadily off of her and falling to his knees. He crawled, his face contorted in a different kind of pain, and rolled into a sitting position against the wall next to the fireplace. He pressed his face into his knees, his hands gripping the sides of his head.  
  
Jaz lay still until her heart slowed down. She didn't dare look at him again. For the first split second that he'd pinned her, she had thought - no, she admitted, hoped - that he'd had entirely different intentions. She wasn't sure which outcome frightened her more.  
  
She listened to the sound of his breath. It was heavy, frequently catching - almost as though he were crying.  
  
_He was going to kill me._  
  
The thought settled over her like ice, causing her heart to pound again. It took her a few more minutes to calm down. _No,_ she decided. That wasn't what had happened at all. Not considering the way he'd stopped as soon as he saw her. He'd been dreaming, or hallucinating, or something...  
  
Jaz stood and pulled the blanket from the couch. The room was too cool for him to wear nothing but those pants. She took a few hesitant steps forward, then crossed the remaining distance in a rush and threw the blanket around his shoulders.  
  
He looked up, startled, but gave no protest as she arranged the blanket to cover as much of him as possible.  
  
Jaz backed away, then turned and picked up the sword lying next to the couch. She padded barefoot across the carpeted floor and into the bedroom, where she placed the sword on the dresser again. She then wrapped herself in the comforter from the bed and returned to the common room, completely closing the door behind her. 

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	7. Chapter 06

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Six**  
  
He watched her warily as she neared and sat down next to him. She placed herself just out of arm's reach -- she didn't want to make him any more uneasy.  
  
After a moment he looked away, choosing to stare off into space instead. Jaz said nothing, but settled into staring into roughly the same patch of air.  
  
Several minutes later, Sephiroth spoke. "~~I'm... I'm sorry,~~" he said quietly. "~~I didn't mean to... It wasn't you. I didn't know it was you. She uses illusion...~~" He fell silent again, thinking of too many times when Jenova had merely shoved his mind aside and used his body as she willed - or worse, when she had merely suggested his course of action, and he had willingly obeyed.  
  
"That... sounded like an apology," Jaz said slowly. "It's all right. You were hallucinating or something, right? I'm sure it wasn't your fault. I think."  
  
Sephiroth lowered his head. "~~I know that you can't understand me, but... I need to talk. I need to think. I don't think that I'm at all who you thought I was... who I thought I was... On second thought, maybe it's better that you can't understand me, I'm not making much sense right now...~~"  
  
Jaz huddled into a ball, listening to him even though she had no hope of understanding. His voice was a softly lilting tenor, unexpectedly gentle and mesmerizing.  
  
"~~I... lost it, once. Really lost it. I think that's what they boy was telling you about this evening - I heard names.~~" He swallowed. His mouth and throat were far too dry. "~~I was raised - trained - to be a ShinRa Soldier... I never even _suspected_ that I was anything but their greatest warrior, that I could be anything else, anything other than their war hero, their figurehead, their prize... And then I found out that it was all a game, that they controlled both sides, even in the war I won for them. They created the monsters to fight, and I was one of the monsters, a pet...~~"  
  
Jaz watched him, her head tilted to rest on her knees. She focused on his mouth, on the way his lips moved. He was too beautiful to hurt so much.  
  
"~~I thought that they didn't deserve to live. None of them deserved to live. I made up my mind, for half a second, to kill them all - and then Je - my... mother took my mind and told me how to do it, and wouldn't let go...~~" So far, Jenova hadn't appeared to punish him for naming her as his mother again. He wondered if her attempt at Jaz's life had tired her. "~~The boy. Cloud. He almost stopped it then and there, in Nibelheim, but he couldn't kill my mother. He nearly killed me, stabbed me...~~"  
  
He shook his head. "~~ShinRa had been filling me with raw Mako my whole life, so when I fell into the Mako reactor it didn't make much difference. My mother used the Lifestream to keep me alive and heal me, but it was slow... And by the time she was ready to begin her plan, I couldn't fight her anymore.~~"  
  
He thumped his head back against the wall, now staring upward. "~~She's right. I'm weak. Weak in mind, because I couldn't face her. Weak in body, because Cloud was able to destroy me, even after Je - Jenova changed my form...~~  
  
"~~I remember that I fell, and she was screaming because she'd lost her hold on my mind - on the world. She tried to kill Cloud, in his mind, but he still defeated her.~~" He allowed himself to smile a little. "~~She's a shape shifter, all illusions and memories. But she could only assume my form, not my mind - else she would have known better than to try to fight that way, by sword, no matter what plane she chose to do battle on. A duel with Cloud at that point could only end in one way. I think that she was desperate...~~"  
  
He felt a small, sharp pain in his arm and wondered if Jenova was exhausted but listening. She was making no attempt to do more harm at the moment, so he continued.  
  
"~~I think I know what happened, after that. When my body fell into the Lifestream, with both me and Jenova trapped inside, the Lifestream... it... I think it kept my body and healed it, to make a prison for Jenova. I don't know how long it took. I think it's been... a while. A year maybe. Then it cast us out, into this world. This world doesn't have Mako -- the energy here is all different. Jenova can't feed or regenerate here. She's powerless here... almost powerless.~~"  
  
He shifted position, stretching out a little, and again smiled slightly. "~~She's trying to break me again, so that she'll at least have a body of her own here. I think she'll have more of a fight from me this time...~~" The pain in his arm increased; she _was_ listening. He made a fist, forcing the muscles to stretch, lessening the pain.  
  
"~~She's slipped up,~~" he suddenly realized. "~~She told me that so long as I live, she lives.~~"  
  
Jaz wasn't looking at him. Had she been, she might have been frightened - his smile broadened, taking on a slightly less sane aspect. "~~If she tries to gain control, I think I know of a way to stop her,~~" Sephiroth murmured.  
  
The pain in his arm vanished.  
  
"~~After all, I'm the only one left whose body holds any of her genetic material. Other than me, her spirit has nowhere to go.~~"  
  
He could feel a small, cold shell in the back of his mind. Jenova was hiding.  
  
She was afraid.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	8. Chapter 07

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Seven**  
  
When Jaz awoke, she was curled up on the floor. She stretched out, wondering for a second why she was there. The events of the previous night stampeded back into her mind, and she lay still for a little while, trying to decide how much had been a dream.  
  
She noticed that the shower was running.  
  
She did a quick mental check to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything that had happened during the night, and sighed with relief when she found no particular missing time. She remembered watching him fall asleep...  
  
The shower switched off; Jaz decided to find a way to keep her attention away from the partially open bedroom door. She folded the comforter she was wrapped in and laid it on the couch next to the blanket that Sephiroth had used.  
  
She crossed to the suite's bar and called room service from the telephone there, ordering bagels and cream cheese and tea. She wasn't sure why she ordered tea in particular, but she was certain that he'd like hot tea.  
  
At the sound of her voice he had emerged from the bedroom, waving vaguely in greeting. His hair was inexplicably dry; Jaz got the idea that water would sheet off of his hair as it would from duck feathers. Worse yet, his hair still showed absolutely no signs of tangling.  
  
Jaz picked a small tangle from her short hair as she hung up the phone, sighing. He was wearing nothing but those black pants of his again. "What _have_ you got against shirts?!?"  
  
He looked confused, but she waved the question away as she passed him, heading for the shower herself. "Nevermind."  
  
One short shower later, Jaz answered the knock at her suite's door, still furiously rubbing at her hair with a towel.  
  
The young man delivering the room service glanced past the bathrobe-clad woman who answered the door. There was a half-clothed man seated in the common room. "I'm sorry, I wasn't told that this was a honeymoon suite," he quickly apologized.  
  
"It's not," Jaz responded without thinking, opening the door wider for him.  
  
"I'll have them send up the complimentary -" the man cut himself off in mid-sentence and his face went red. Without a word, he stepped inside only long enough to set the tray on the table. He slipped out again without meeting Jaz's eyes again, mumbling some pleasantries as he closed the door behind him.  
  
Jaz stood for a moment, realized what had transpired, and stepped to the side of the door to bang her head against the wall. She tried not to laugh too hard.  
  
A hand touched her shoulder; Jaz spun around, surprised by the contact. Sephiroth was looking at her, obviously concerned.  
  
"It's okay, don't mind me," Jaz said between giggles. She gestured toward the food. "Breakfast. Eat."  
  
Oddly enough, Sephiroth seemed to recognize bagels, and he apparently did like tea - though he chose a tea bag completely at random from the provided selection.  
  
Jaz watched him as they ate, speaking between bites. "I _still_ don't know what I'm going to do with you," she mused. "I guess I'm going to drag you around with me for the convention, but after that... hmm, maybe I should get another job so that I can afford my own apartment. Or at least pay for more than one room in the house... It's not like me and Katie make much money with the used book store..." She got lost staring at him for a moment; it occurred to her that he'd stick out like a brilliant sore thumb no matter where she took him. Unless...  
  
When they finished eating, Jaz stood and handed him his coat and shoulder armor. "This is the only way that you'll blend in at the convention," she grinned, proud of her quick mind. She picked up her garment bag and went to change.  
  
A few minutes later she re-appeared, wearing her convention costume. Her hair was held back with a wide leather headband; she wore a bloused black shirt under a stiff, patterned black bodice, with the sleeves of the shirt neatly tucked into leather arm guards that matched her headband. Black stretch cotton leggings and knee-high, moccasin-like black suede boots covered her legs, and her belt pouch and ornamental dagger completed her outfit. She'd done most of the sewing and leather work herself.  
  
In her hands, she gently carried Masamune, which she held out to him. "People won't think you look right without it," she smiled. "And if I'm going to take credit for you, then you'd better look right. We'll have to wire it to the harness, though..."  
  
  
  
Jaz led Sephiroth downstairs and into the dealers' room, each of them carrying a box of books. The dealers' room was off the central atrium of the hotel, an open shaft lined with balconies that culminated in large skylights, which were currently grey with snow cover. Sephiroth looked up at the skylights with a sudden sense of vertigo - the image of the interior of a Mako reactor clouded his vision. He shook his head to clear it and concentrated on following Jaz.  
  
"Good morning," Jaz called as she approached Katie's table.  
  
Katie looked up as they set the boxes down inside the semicircle of tables. "Good... morning," she answered, her eyes suddenly tracking Sephiroth's movements.  
  
"Wow, cool!" Jamie exclaimed. "He came with the sword!"  
  
"I thought that he'd be easier to hide if he was in costume," Jaz grinned.  
  
"Very good idea," Katie said approvingly. "It's a beautiful... costume, mind you..."  
  
Jamie, who was already setting up his Playstation with a small color TV at the back of their dealers' space, beckoned Sephiroth to sit on the floor cushions in front of the television. "C'mere, Seph, I'll show you how to play _Tekken 2_ like I said. And wait 'till you see _Soul Blade_..."  
  
Jaz watched him go, impressed by the grace with which he maneuvered with the long sword attached to his back. At a small sound from Katie she snapped out of her trance, blushing slightly.  
  
The day passed quickly. Katie's dealing tables consisted of a large selection of fantasy, science fiction, and mystery books from the rare and used book store that she and Jaz ran, a few large photo albums that showcased Jaz's costume work, and a small rack of stock Medieval/Renaissance/Fantasy costume pieces for Jaz to sell. Jamie taught Sephiroth how to play a variety of games, mostly fighter-style, and enjoyed himself immensely even though he soon began to consistently lose.  
  
Jaz received a startling number of compliments on Sephiroth's costume, which she said was a prototype and therefore not in her catalogue yet. Yes, she did custom costumes - little else, really. No, she hadn't done any other video game based costumes, yet. Yes, she'd be happy to take orders, that was why she was here. No, she didn't know where he got the sword - ask him later, he's concentrating on whipping Jamie's butt at _Tekken 3_ right now. It's a custom made wig. He ordered the contact lenses on-line... they're prescription, very expensive...  
  
When Katie left to bring them lunch, Jaz was nearly overwhelmed.  
  
One overweight fellow, wearing a _Star Trek: Voyager_ T-shirt, claimed that he'd seen better wigs. He then went back to angrily debating with his friend the merits of _Star Trek_ Vs. _Babylon 5_. His friend, wearing complete Klingon armor and the appropriate makeup, rolled his eyes. ("Most patient Klingon I've ever seen," Katie commented.)  
  
  
  
At about six o'clock, most of the crowd cleared out - it was time for one of the convention's key guests to speak and sign autographs. Jaz and Katie breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Tired yet, oh magnificent creator of costumes?" Katie asked, sinking down into a folding chair.  
  
Jaz stuck out her tongue, folding her arms on the table and laying her head down.  
  
The dealers' room would close in another half an hour; Katie began to pack books away for the night. "Are you still going to the movie marathon tonight? Two and a half more hours..."  
  
"I guess so... I don't know..." Jaz raised her head and reached for a batch of books to put away.  
  
There was a sudden thump behind them; Jamie squeaked. "Seph - Sephiroth? Umm..."  
  
Jaz and Katie turned. Sephiroth had fallen back on the cushions, eyes closed. Jaz immediately jumped up.  
  
"Jamie, _what_ did you _do?_" Katie yelped, looking at the television. The _Final Fantasy VII_ logo was fading in on the screen.  
  
"I... I didn't," Jamie stammered, close to tears. "I just wanted to know what would happen... He saw Aeris..."  
  
"Shut that thing off," Jaz snapped, prying open one of Sephiroth's eyes. His pupils were so contracted as to seem invisible, and his breathing was nearly non-existent.  
  
"Well, now you know what would happen," Katie sighed.  
  
"Hey, is he all right?" The dealer at the next table asked, pausing in his own packing.  
  
"He's fine," Katie instinctively called back. To Jamie, she added, "No more of that game, all right? Not now." She pushed the power button on the Playstation, turning to Jaz before the screen went blank. "_Is_ he all right?" She asked in a low voice. "What do we do?"  
  
"I don't know -" Jaz felt his neck, looking for a pulse.  
  
Sephiroth's hand was suddenly in the way, grabbing her wrist as he drew a deep gasp and opened his eyes.  
  
As soon as he focused on her, his grip eased. "Jaz," he breathed, letting go of her hand.  
  
She pulled away slowly, her mind suddenly reeling. The way he said her name... "Um. I think he's okay now," she said belatedly.  
  
"You should definitely go to the movie marathon," Katie commented, looking back and forth between Jaz and Sephiroth. "For your own good. I don't think you two should be left alone together for any longer than can be helped."  
  
When Jaz glared at her, she only grinned.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	9. Chapter 08

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Eight**  
  
The movie marathon consisted of several of the best sci-fi and fantasy movies, accompanied by a roomful of loud, costumed fans. Sephiroth understood little of what was going on, but thought that the films were interesting anyhow.  
  
After two movies, Jaz, Sephiroth, Jamie, and Katie were invited to one of the other suites by an enthusiastic group of friends who wanted to watch television shows instead. The term "drinking game" came up more than once; after some deliberation, Katie took Jamie up to bed before he fell asleep where he sat. Jaz took the opportunity to change into normal clothing - jeans and a green velour shirt - and Sephiroth put on the jeans and gray sweater again. Then they and Katie joined several members of the Space Station Monongahela _Star Trek_ fan club in their suite to play the _Dr. Who_ drinking game.  
  
...Which would have been fine, had someone not thoughtfully spiked all five bottles of Pepsi about halfway through "The Horns of the Nimon". After that episode, someone decided to change the game and put in several episodes of _Lost in Space_ and _Dark Shadows_. Both of those shows had drinking games that inherently involved more drinking.  
  
Jaz was having trouble keeping her balance by the second episode of _Lost in Space_, at which point she decided that she should be going back to her room. Sephiroth, who had watched (but luckily not participated in) the proceedings with some amusement, was quick to pick up on Jaz's leaving motions.  
  
"But it's only 4:30!" Someone called after her as the door closed. At this point, Jaz couldn't help it - she giggled.  
  
"Gawd, I wish I was her," a female voice - not Katie's, for once - carried loudly through the door. Jaz began to laugh harder and would have fallen had Sephiroth not held on to her arm.  
  
On the elevator up to their floor, Jaz fell heavily against his chest, knocking him back against the wall. She laughed again, more quietly this time, and said something. She seemed to forget to pull away; Sephiroth had the distinct idea that she would have, had she been thinking clearly, and pushed her away just enough so that she was upright again. She said something else, still smiling, but he caught the self-mocking tone in her voice. He sighed, helping her to walk as the elevator doors opened.  
  
"...What did they put in that soda, anyway?" Jaz mumbled, fumbling for her suite's key card in her jeans. She finally found it and opened the door. She dropped the card as she stumbled inside; Sephiroth picked it up and laid it on the table near the door.  
  
Jaz seemed to be about to fall off of her feet, so Sephiroth led her into the bedroom and let her slip down onto the bed.  
  
It was very late. He had a battle to prepare for.  
  
He stooped to make sure that his armor and sword were still where he'd left them, under the bed. When he looked up, Jaz was leaning out over the edge of the mattress so that her face was all of three inches away from his.  
  
"So," she asked, pretending to be far more confident than she actually was. "Are you sure you don't want to take advantage of me?"  
  
Sephiroth stood and picked up his folded "costume" pants from the dresser by the window. Then he turned, waved goodnight to her, and headed for the door.  
  
"No? Oh... okay." Jaz turned over so that she was looking at him upside down. "Your loss." She reconsidered and shrugged. "Or mine. Or something. Whatever. ...Boy, I think that tomorrow morning, I'm going to be very glad that you don't speak English."  
  
Sephiroth pushed the door knob's lock button before closing the door behind him.  
  
He was very tired. The boy's video games had been a pleasant distraction for most of the day, but for the past several hours he'd been fighting off sleep. He couldn't sleep until it was safe, until he was alone.  
  
He knew that at the end of the day, something had happened. One of the video games had been... had shown... He forced himself not to remember. Remembering weakened him and allowed Jenova to speak. She was the one weakened now, her only body a few cells within him that lacked the necessary Mako environment to regenerate, but her spirit could still be powerful. At all costs, he could not allow her to take control again.  
  
"~~You must sleep eventually, boy,~~" Jenova purred, her shining blue form stepping into his field of vision. "~~Soon, now, I think.~~"  
  
Sephiroth wordlessly pulled his sweater off over his head and sat down on the couch.  
  
"~~Why do you force yourself to forget, weak one?~~" She smiled nastily, revealing pointed teeth. "~~You're nothing but a child's game in this world. You saw.~~"  
  
"~~It doesn't matter.~~" He removed his sneakers and the black jeans, resisting the urge to fling them at her. He pulled on his silken black pants before wrapping himself in the throw blanket and lying down on the couch.  
  
"~~Doesn't it? You saw her. The Flower Girl. The Cetra. Only a flat image, not even a hologram.~~" Jenova walked around him and sat next to the fireplace, where he'd been the night before. "~~You do not exist. You are a story from someone else's mind, designed to frighten little children.~~"  
  
Now Sephiroth laughed. "~~Whose mind, mother? Yours? You are no more real here than I.~~"  
  
Jenova spoke in a low hiss. "~~I. Am. Not. Your. Mother. I do not accept such a pathetic being as yourself as my offspring. Your mother was a foolish human woman.~~"  
  
"~~No human would ever claim me, Jenova. There is too much of you in me.~~" He held himself steady, fighting against the sudden bitterness that she'd sparked in him. He waited for the pain to start in his bones again. When it didn't come, he relaxed a little. "~~I am myself, Jenova, real or not. And now I am your prison.~~"  
  
"~~You are not!~~" She snapped, losing her temper. "~~You are my vessel! You are nothing but a shell for me to use.~~" But she was losing control of him. The longer he stayed in this Mako-less world, the less he belonged to her.  
  
No. It wasn't the world that was making him stronger. It was that girl. She was ignorant of Sephiroth's true nature and past, and therefore treated him with a simplistic common kindness (along with her other rather primal reactions). The boy was holding on to that unreasoning faith as an anchor.  
  
Jenova huddled into a ball. She'd have to try to get rid of the girl again, and do it right this time.  
  
"~~You are wrong, mother,~~" He responded quietly. "~~Your power grows weaker. You can no longer punish me. ...I won't let you have this world. I won't let it happen again...~~" Sephiroth fell asleep, still defiant.  
  
Jenova sat and thought. Her only physical body here was Sephiroth's, and it was currently not hers to control. But if she could break him again, as she had once... to do that, she'd have to remove this girl.  
  
She didn't necessarily need a physical body in order to push events in the proper direction. All she needed was a little contact.  
  
She reached out, forcing her way through this world's thick, polluted ether, searching for dreaming minds. Dreams opened doors.  
  
Eventually, Jenova found what she was looking for. She'd seen evidence of it all day - this place was ripe with unstable minds.  
  
She curled into the mind that she'd found and explored, then found the proper buttons to push. The wordless concepts formed easily in the fracturing mind.  
  
_Females._  
  
_Rejection - being passed over._  
  
_Can't stand any more._  
  
Jenova pushed a little further, savoring the violent turn that this one's dreams so readily took. Her victim barely needed any help... but her needs were specific. _Red hair. Mocking. Kill._  
  
There. It wouldn't be long before this one awoke, ready to act. It would be a simple thing to point this one in the girl's direction...  
  
Just now, Jenova was too tired. Any action in this world required a great effort on her part. If she lost too much energy, she would be unable to return to her cells in Sephiroth's body, and she would... die.  
  
Jenova skulked back into Sephiroth's sleeping form, exhausted by the time she made it back inside. It would've been so much easier if he had been dreaming...  
  
All this work to attain the simple goal of godhood. She wasn't even sure if that would be possible on this world - she'd come so close on the Mako-Earth, only to have it taken away at the last moment.  
  
Jenova sighed. Dictatorship might have to do.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	10. Chapter 09

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Nine**  
  
The phone next to the bed began to ring, jarring Jaz awake. She winced, eventually managed to crawl into a sitting position again, and answered it.  
  
Katie was on the other end. "Jaz?"  
  
"Mmmmph?" Jaz blinked rapidly. Her eyes hurt.  
  
"Jaz, it's almost noon! I was starting to worry..." Katie paused. "Should I be worried?"  
  
"Nugh." With some effort, she looked to the clock on the bedside stand. 11:48. "YAAAAGH!!!"  
  
She hung up the phone.  
  
On the other end, Katie stared at the receiver and sighed. "That didn't answer the question, Jaz."  
  
  
  
Jaz and Sephiroth arrived at the dealers' room a little while later. Sephiroth seemed somehow brighter - well-rested, nearly cheerful. He proceeded to play _Soul Blade_ with Jamie and let him win several times in a row.  
  
Jaz, on the other hand, was bordering on miserable. She hadn't slept well at all, after the first few hours, and she had a bit of a hangover.  
  
Katie watched Sephiroth for a few minutes, then turned to Jaz. "What's he so cheery about?"  
  
"I have no idea," Jaz said, rubbing her forehead. "The last thing I remember, Dr. Smith was running toward the Jupiter 2 yelling 'We're Doomed! We're Doomed!'"  
  
Katie's mouth dropped open.  
  
Jaz looked at her from the corner of her eye. "What?"  
  
"You mean... you could've... and you _don't remember?_"  
  
Jaz raised her fist threateningly. "Cut it out, Katie. And don't yell. Please."  
  
Katie snapped her distressed mouth shut.  
  
"Anyway. You know I wouldn't do that." Jaz stared blankly at the end of the table. Something was tugging at her mind.  
  
"I'm sorry, Jaz," Katie said more quietly. "You know me. My imagination runs wild."  
  
She remembered thinking that she'd heard a woman's voice in the common room last night... "Huh?" Jaz looked at Katie again.  
  
"_Are_ you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine," Jaz said, putting her head down again. "Just tired..." She rubbed the back of her head. "_And_ I couldn't find my key card this morning. I'm using the spare. What _was_ in that Pepsi?"  
  
"It was the Klingon with the bad head piece -"  
  
"In the Pepsi?"  
  
Katie stuck out her tongue. "Might as well have been. He smuggled in some Baccardi. I guess I was lucky, I fell asleep after 'The Horns of the Nimon'."  
  
"That's right, you never got to the argument about rubber bats in _Dark Shadows_," Jaz said, getting up.  
  
"Where are you going?" Katie asked, frowning.  
  
"To the cafe downstairs," Jaz sighed. "I need coffee."  
  
  
  
Later in the afternoon, an announcement was made. Due to the severe winter storm conditions, the roads were closed, for use by emergency vehicles only. All those visiting the convention that day were to be put up at the hotel for the night.  
  
"This stinks," Katie commented. "The costume ball's going to be even more packed tonight..."  
  
"I'd nearly forgotten about the snow," Jaz said softly.  
  
"I don't think the snow is why we're stuck here," mumbled a woman studying their selection of used books. She small and thin, almost painfully so, and was dressed as Sailor Moon. Jaz appreciated the detailed costume, but had always thought that most Anime costumes, those of Sailor Moon included, were not meant to be worn by real people. Of course, she decided, she would've said the same thing about Sephiroth...  
  
"It's not?" Katie asked.  
  
"Didn't you know?" The woman sighed. Jaz realized that she was the woman who'd been on the elevator when she and Sephiroth had arrived.  
  
"Know what?" Jaz asked, joining the conversation. She wondered vaguely why she hadn't seen the woman the day before.  
  
"They -" The woman lowered her voice. "They found a body upstairs this morning. Some poor redhead all sliced up. I heard that they took in her boyfriend this morning, but that they're pretty sure it wasn't him." The woman shrugged. "The room was broken in to, and her boyfriend was pretty well witnessed at the movie marathon. Here we are with a hotel full of crazies with edged weapons..."  
  
"Regular needle in a haystack kind of thing," Katie said. "No wonder they've got the place locked down."  
  
"That just about tops off _my_ day," Jaz muttered. "As if things weren't exciting enough already..." "Hey, cheer up," the woman said, handing Katie some bills and a stack of paperbacks. "At least it's unlikely that anything else will happen, with all these cops hanging around."  
  
Jaz looked around the dealers' room and noticed the officers trying to be unobtrusive near the doors. "Yeah, that's good."  
  
Katie waited for the woman to leave before speaking. "Jaz," she whispered. "You don't suppose.. I mean..."  
  
Jaz was in no mood to play. "Spit it out, Katie."  
  
"Maybe that's why he's in such a good mood today," Katie hissed, jerking her head toward Sephiroth. "You heard the story from Jamie about... about his past. And where's your other key card? You said you couldn't find it..."  
  
"I mislaid it, Katie, that's all. People do that sort of thing when they've had more to drink than they should've." Jaz sighed and continued with her last remaining thread of patience, "I may not - I may not remember anything much, but I'm pretty sure that he never left the suite all night, OK?"  
  
Katie raised one eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"  
  
"I'm not stupid, Katie," Jaz sighed. "If I thought for a second that he'd done anything of the sort, he'd be out of here. Got it?"  
  
"Yes ma'am," Katie said, smiling in apology.  
  
Jaz looked over her shoulder at Sephiroth. She was certain that he wouldn't have done any such thing.  
  
She swallowed, suddenly cold, and reminded herself. Certain.  
  
  
  
The Masquerade Ball was at nine that night, after the costume contest. Jaz and Katie left Sephiroth in Katie's suite with Jamie - they didn't want to spend very long at the dance, and it would've been unfair to take him to the costume competition.  
  
Jamie had watched Sephiroth's expression as Jaz left to change, and had seen his thoughtful look when Katie had left in her gown. He evidently guessed that some event was going on, in which both Katie and Jaz were involved.  
  
Jamie wanted to go to the Masquerade Ball, and had been told that he was too young to enjoy it. Jamie was an indignant twelve-year old, and Jamie had a plan.  
  
He had his own costume, completed by a grotesque leather goblin mask. Though he was still young for it, Katie and Jamie's costuming sense had taken root in him, and he wanted to go to the dance to see the costumes. His original plan had to been to sneak out alone, using Katie's spare key card - though for some reason, she had specifically warned him not to leave the suite tonight. Now, he had an accomplice, whom he suspected would very much like to see Jaz in her ball gown.  
  
A little while after Katie left, Jamie made a "stay" motion to Sephiroth, and ran into his own room to change. He emerged as a small, black, spiky goblin in a hooded cape.  
  
Luckily, unlike the night before, Sephiroth was still wearing his "costume". That was good, because Jaz had mentioned that she'd lost her key card and was using her spare, so they wouldn't have been able to get into Jaz's suite to retrieve Seph's outfit. As it was, completing Sephiroth's costume for the Masquerade Ball would be easy...  
  
Jamie dug through a box in Katie's room until he found what he was looking for. He raised another leather mask triumphantly above his head - a fearsome black and silver dragon. Jaz and Katie wore leather masks like these too - they'd all been purchased at the same time.  
  
He held out the mask as he approached Sephiroth. "Try this on."  
  
The mask fit; Jamie led Sephiroth to the bathroom mirror to show him.  
  
Sephiroth stared for a moment, then - very slightly - smiled. The black and silver dragon with the long gray-white bangs shadowing its face smiled back.  
  
That was all the signal that Jamie needed. "Come on!" He tugged at Sephiroth's arm until the man followed him back into the common room.  
  
Jamie handed Masamune to him. "Put it back on, quick!" The boy was becoming more enthusiastic about his plan the further it progressed. "We've got to get down there."  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	11. Chapter 10

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Ten**  
  
The elevator chimed and opened. A small, dark goblin's face cautiously peered out, soon followed by a silver and black dragon several feet above. The conspirators crept out and down the hall to the ballroom, which opened onto the central atrium as the dealers' room did.  
  
Some of the costumed people standing outside the dance hall stared appreciatively at Sephiroth, and wondered why such a beautiful costume had missed the costume competition. No one wanted to speak to him directly - he seemed to be deeply in character. The well-made goblin tugging him along by his coat sleeve barely detracted from his costume.  
  
They entered the ballroom. Sephiroth stared out over the whirling crowd: an enchantment of costumes and masks, ringed by more costumes. Some wore masks; some merely wore their regular convention garb; some were barely made up, adding only a little paint in order to achieve their chosen character.  
  
For a moment, he thought he saw Cloud and some of his friends, but when he looked more closely the resemblance faded.  
  
Jamie was leading him again, now pointing. There was tawny-haired Katie in the gown and mask he'd seen her leave in: A cream-colored gown, delicately embroidered and decorated with leaves and feathers, and covered by a magnificent feathered cloak. Her sharp hawk mask matched her hair.  
  
The music playing was thrumming, obviously passionate.  
  
_"See the stone set in your eyes  
See the thorn twist in your side  
I wait for you...  
Slight of hand and twist of fate  
On a bed of nails she makes me wait  
And I wait, without you...  
With or without you..."_  
  
Another woman was standing next to Katie. She wore a black gown, accented with copper and fiery leaves, and bits of reddish fur. A black gem was wrapped in a copper choker at her throat, much like the white-flecked black stone that adorned the forehead of his dragon mask. A black beaded shawl was pinned at her shoulder and opposite hip, acting as a short cape.  
  
He saw her red hair and pale green eyes, and realized that it was Jaz. Her face was covered by a tabby cat mask that blended with her hair; she had added black streaks in her hair to extend the mask's stripes.  
  
She saw him.  
  
Katie noticed their approach as well. For a moment, it looked like Jamie was going to be in serious trouble.  
  
Jaz stepped forward to meet Sephiroth.  
  
For another moment, they only looked at each other.  
  
_"With or without you, oh  
I can't live  
With or without you..."_  
  
Sephiroth held out one gloved hand, palm upward, and bowed slightly. This was something he knew; as ShinRa's greatest warrior, protocol had commanded him to attend many such events... Though he suspected that Jaz would be far more interesting to dance with than, say, ShinRa board member Scarlet.  
  
Jaz hesitated, then took his hand.  
  
Katie watched him lead her out onto the dance floor. "Uh-oh..."  
  
_"My hands are tied  
My body bruised, she's got me with  
Nothing left to win  
And nothing else to lose  
With or without you..."_  
  
Jaz wasn't sure how long they'd been dancing. He was very good at it, even if she wasn't. She didn't feel tired at all, but they must have been dancing for a good while, because the floor was becoming less crowded. She looked up at Sephiroth's masked face and wondered when he'd drawn her closer... or when she'd drawn him.  
  
A song ended; another began. Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited".  
  
_"Like anyone would be  
I am flattered by  
Your fascination with me..."_  
  
Katie was standing near the double doors at the front of the room again. Jamie was curled up in a chair near the doors, asleep, the long nose of his mask askew.  
  
There was a cop wandering vaguely just outside the doors. Leaning on the door frame, Katie watched him - he seemed to be watching the dance as if he'd been instructed to.  
  
_"Like any hot-blooded woman  
I have simply  
Wanted an object to crave..."_  
  
On the dance floor, Sephiroth decided that they'd been staring at each other long enough. He took his mask by its chin and pulled it off.  
  
Jaz was feeling light headed as she pulled off her own mask. She noted the song that was playing; that a few other dancers were looking their way; that Sephiroth was tilting her head back slightly, bringing his lips closer to hers...  
  
The room suddenly went pitch black in time to the music.  
  
Jaz heard/felt Sephiroth exhale, as though he'd been struck. He let go of her. By the time - less than a second later - that the music-timed laser lights came back on, he'd disappeared.  
  
_"...This is not allowed,  
You're uninvited..."_  
  
Jaz looked around wildly. A streak of light nearby caught her eye - the emergency exit at the rear left of the ballroom was just clicking shut. She fought her way through the crowd toward the door.  
  
When she reached it, she found the black and silver dragon mask lying on the floor.  
  
She stooped to pick it up, then flung the door open and ran out into the access hallway beyond.  
  
She looked both ways. Far down to the left was the main hallway. To the right was a door leading to an emergency stairway.  
  
The door rattled. She glimpsed a slash of light gray hair through the door's window. He was there.  
  
She pushed open the door.  
  
Sephiroth whirled around. He'd been looking over the edge, down into the stair well. In his hand he held his sword - which was stained red.  
  
The music drifting out of the ballroom reached a crescendo.  
  
The door jammed against something. Jaz looked down - and screamed.  
  
The door had run into the leg of a dead woman whose blood was still pouring out onto the floor. Several pieces of her were arranged on the upward flight of stairs.  
  
At the other end of the access hall, Katie and the cop that she had noticed both jumped at the cry.  
  
Jaz looked back up at Sephiroth, her worst fears realized.  
  
One of his gloves was torn and dripping red; there was a slash across his chest that just missed severing one of the straps of his sword harness.  
  
She'd let go of the stairwell door; it slammed shut. Sephiroth reached out, his torn and bloody glove hitting the reinforced glass of the door's window and leaving a red smear. "Jaz! ~~Wait!~~"  
  
Nearly at the same moment, the emergency exit to the ballroom burst open.  
  
The horror on Jaz's face was replaced by fear. She staggered backward, almost fell, and caught herself on the wall. She screamed again, a broken wail.  
  
A cop emerged from the ballroom, pistol at ready. There were confused and frightened cries coming from inside the room.  
  
Sephiroth stood with his hand on the small window for a moment more. His mouth hung open slightly. The realization that Jaz was now terrified of him settled in his mind like snow, slow and numbing.  
  
The cop leapt into his narrow field of vision, cutting off his view of Jaz. He instantly turned and bounded down the stairs.  
  
A song ended; another began.  
  


* * *

Author's note: The first song above is "With or Without You", by U2. Unfortunately (or not), I now have it inextricably linked in my mind to Final Fantasy VII, thanks to writing this...  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	12. Chapter 11

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Eleven**  
  
The detectives - themselves now prisoners in the snowbound hotel - questioned Jaz and Katie for an hour and a half. Jaz was the closest thing to a witness they had. But in the end, she and Katie were escorted to their suites. Jamie had already been escorted back to Katie's suite.  
  
Jaz's missing key card was a source of great concern to the police. Two officers thoroughly searched her suite, then stood guard at the suite's door.  
  
Jaz sat in the suite's common room for a long time. She lit up the gas fireplace and watched the flames.  
  
It didn't help. She still felt cold inside.  
  
The gray sweater that she'd gotten for Sephiroth was lying on the far end of the couch. She looked at it, and briefly considered folding it and packing it - but she couldn't bring herself to touch it.  
  
She realized that she was shaking again.  
  
She stood and paced back and forth for a few minutes, rubbing her arms. She felt as though every muscle in her body was knotted tight, and she couldn't relax.  
  
She turned out the fireplace, walked into the bathroom, and began to draw water into the contoured bathtub. She'd booked this suite with luxurious baths in mind, and was determined to keep this "vacation" from being a total fiasco.  
  
She chose a particularly soothing bubble bath scent from those she'd packed and poured in nearly half the bottle.  
  
She realized, as she shoved the bottle back in her luggage and undressed, that she was concentrating on not thinking. She managed to hold off thought a few minutes more, until she had stepped into the warm, scented water and leaned back into the side of the tub. For a few moments, she was able to simply savor her perfect bath.  
  
Then she sat forward again, drew her knees to her chest, and began to cry.  
  
  
  
Sephiroth crouched in the kitchen area on the hotel's ground floor. This part of the kitchen had closed for the night, and he'd crept in through the back.  
  
He held his sword over a drain in the floor, allowing the rest of the blood on it to drip away. Masamune was not simply a weapon; it was a prototype Mako-nanotech blade, keyed to his mind so that his fighting would be improved. When he'd been given the sword, he hadn't even been tall enough to carry it. Since that time, he'd rarely been separated from it, and it always found its way back to him. Self-cleaning was apparently the least of Masamune's abilities, and he doubted that even the sword's creators knew the current extent of its powers. He certainly didn't.  
  
He finally noticed the pain in his hand and chest and remembered that he'd been hurt. He pressed a hidden latch and the thin handle of his sword sprang open, revealing a row of small, slightly glowing, smooth gems of varying colors. They were Materia - Mako condensed into a solid form and specialized to enable the bearer to perform certain spells.  
  
So far as he knew, only those from his Mako-Earth could use them, as only that world gave its inhabitants a natural reservoir of "magic" to focus through the stones. He knew that Jenova was attempting to tap his magic and wasn't sure if she had succeeded or not; as it was, he had very little magic left, and hoped that he wouldn't need it.  
  
Sephiroth chose a green stone and clasped it in his wounded hand, then to his chest, allowing the stone's natural power to heal him rather than calling a full-fledged cure spell. Calling a stronger spell would drain his magic further.  
  
He placed the green Materia back in Masamune's handle - then paused. He thoughtfully removed a red gem and held it up to the light. This was a Summon Materia. In his world, it would call a "monster" (though they were sometimes quite beautiful) to attack the enemy or perform some other specific function such as healing or shielding. Rather like specialized djins, he thought. But he doubted that the stone was anything more than a pretty rock here.  
  
He put the Summon Materia back in its slot and closed his sword's handle. He had to keep moving. It wouldn't do to be caught, and if he remained in one place too long, that's what would happen.  
  
Sephiroth pulled the key-card to Jaz's suite from his glove. He'd slipped it into his cuff that morning, thinking that it would be useful should they become separated. He'd sensed that Jenova was up to something, and wanted to be able to keep that something from affecting Jaz.  
  
For a moment, he considered the possibility that Jenova had nothing to do with the gory scene he'd found in the stairwell, and the monstrous creature that had done it and cut him in fleeing. But the dead girl had had red hair, and Jenova had crowed with delight at that. On top of that, it had been Jenova's sudden soft laughter - when he'd drawn too close to Jaz - that had caused him to run from the ballroom, and Jenova had found the short altercation of blades in the stairwell entirely too amusing.  
  
The image of Jaz's terrified face flooded into his mind. She thought that he was the killer.  
  
He had to protect her. She and her friends were the closest thing to a haven that he had on this world - something he needed, since Jenova didn't seem inclined to provide one for him without a high price, now.  
  
If he could find this murderer, he could put a stop to this, and Jaz would realize that it hadn't been him at all...  
  
"~~You are perceptive, I'll grant you that,~~" Jenova said. She was suddenly sitting next to him, not looking at him; she seemed to be very tired. "~~You needn't fear, child. I will allow no one to harm you.~~"  
  
"~~Only because you'll die if I die,~~" Sephiroth muttered back.  
  
"~~As I said. Perceptive.~~" She paused, then looked at him. "~~What will you do next, boy?~~" She asked with venomous concern. "~~This one who kills is mad, that much is obvious. Do you intend to destroy him? Or perhaps take up with him, and use him to subjugate these people? It's a start...~~"  
  
"~~I intend to do nothing,~~" Sephiroth lied. "~~I intend to leave this place.~~"  
  
"~~But you cannot leave,~~" Jenova smiled. "~~Think of the snow. It's still coming down, you've seen it. No one can safely leave.~~" She narrowed her eyes to gleaming slits. "~~Besides... You have your woman to attend to.~~"  
  
Sephiroth gritted his teeth, lowering his head, eyes shut. He'd been wondering when she'd get around to that. "~~She is not 'my woman', Mother,~~" he said, knowing that Jenova would be distracted by his calling her by that name.  
  
"~~No, boy. You do not belong to me. When will you accept your failure?~~"  
  
"~~I already have. I have accepted you.~~"  
  
Jenova made a hissing noise and was silent for a little while. Sephiroth wondered if she'd retreat, and if anyone would hear his voice here in the kitchen - he was fairly certain that only he could hear Jenova.  
  
Jenova did not retreat. "~~If she's not your woman, then what is she to you?~~" she suddenly snapped, picking up her thread of conversation again.  
  
Sephiroth cursed himself; Jenova would not be swayed so easily. "~~An ally,~~" he responded.  
  
"~~You desire her company.~~"  
  
"~~I desire company out of loneliness, no more. I'm simply sick of being with you alone.~~" Sephiroth stood. He had to move on; he'd been in one place too long.  
  
"~~You wish to mate with her.~~" Jenova grinned nastily. She'd been saving that for last. "~~Weak _male_ thing.~~"  
  
Sephiroth turned his back on her. "~~No more, Jenova.~~"  
  
"~~The woman killed on the stairs,~~" Jenova called after him as he walked cautiously away. "~~She had red hair, too, did you notice? And she was wearing a black gown as well...~~"  
  
He'd noticed. "~~So?~~"  
  
He instantly regretted snapping up the bait so quickly - but at least now he was absolutely certain of Jenova's involvement.  
  
"~~Perhaps this one who kills had another target in mind?~~"  
  
"~~The thought had occurred to me, Mother.~~" He pushed lightly on one of the swinging doors at the front of the kitchen. It creaked a little, but not much.  
  
"~~You think that I had something to do with it?~~" Jenova sounded indignant, but was obviously gloating. "~~You flatter me. You should know that I cannot control minds in this world.~~"  
  
There was a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach. "~~You... you found a way.~~" It was an unfamiliar sensation, but he'd experienced it before. It signaled fear. Exerting control over someone in this world, however indirectly, would certainly account for her apparent exhaustion...  
  
"~~Did I?~~" Jenova smiled, tilting her head innocently. "~~Perhaps you had better go and protect your woman, then.~~"  
  
Stalling. She'd been stalling the entire time.  
  
Sephiroth quickly slipped through the door. He had to find a way back upstairs, quickly.  
  
Jenova's vicious laughter followed him.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	13. Chapter 12

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Twelve**  
  
Eventually the water in the bathtub cooled down enough for Jaz to notice. She got out and drained the water, slowly drying herself off.  
  
  
  
Sephiroth crept out of a stairwell and down the hall on Jaz's floor. He reached the corner and crouched, removing Masamune from his back. He slid the tip of the sword along the floor, out past the corner, and looked into its narrow reflection.  
  
There was Jaz's suite. There were two men in uniforms guarding the door. He slowly drew Masamune back, trying to figure out how to make them leave; killing them would only draw attention that he didn't want, as well as keep Jaz afraid of him, he suspected. Sephiroth only had a problem with killing when it worked against him.  
  
Somewhere down the hall, a woman screamed.  
  
Sephiroth jumped and turned the corner before he realized that the scream hadn't been Jaz's. He heard Jenova hiss something unrepeatable about timing, and her presence faded away; she was exhausted.  
  
The two men who had been guarding her door were running down the hall, presumably toward the source of the scream. They didn't see him at all.  
  
Sephiroth wasted no time. He ran for Jaz's door, pulling the key card from his glove before he reached it. As soon as he was inside, he closed the door and locked it.  
  
Jaz wasn't in the common room. He walked to the partially open bedroom door, holding Masamune at ready, and pushed the door the rest of the way open.  
  
There. The bathroom door was slightly open; she was in there. Drying off, from the sound of it.  
  
Sephiroth pushed the bedroom door shut. He knew that she couldn't understand him, but if he waited here, perhaps he could find some way to explain to her...  
  
There was a sudden sound of splintering wood.  
  
Jaz didn't have time to turn around; she saw only a glimpse of movement behind her in the mirror. The door behind her quickly and silently swung open, and a black clad arm shot through, and the forearm covered her mouth. The other hand, which had been controlling the door, snaked around her waist. She was dragged backward a few feet, then to the left into open the bathroom closet. Jaz squirmed, trying to hold her towel over her front with one hand and pry at the arm over her mouth with the other. She tried to scream, but with her mouth covered; the sound couldn't escape. She bit the arm instead, and tried to kick at her captor's legs.  
  
The man holding her made a very slight hissing sound, but did not release her mouth. The arm around her waist left and pulled the closet door shut, then returned, clamping her firmly against her attacker's body. The hand closed around her arm with which she held her towel with surprising gentleness.  
  
The arm across her mouth moved upward, forcing her head tilt back. It was Sephiroth - she caught a glimpse of his face, illuminated in horizontal streaks from the slatted closet door. He held her head so that it rested against his collar bone, her cheek against his jaw.  
  
Jaz knew that her life was now ended; it would only be a matter of time before he killed her. She just hoped that he'd cut her throat before he began to remove pieces of her like the girl in the stairwell. In desperation, she began to kick more furiously.  
  
She realized her state of undress, and that she could feel his mostly bare chest against her back, and her cheeks suddenly felt very hot. He probably wouldn't just kill her...  
  
There was another scream of rending wood - the bedroom door, from the sound of it. She heard Sephiroth whisper something very quiet and very urgent. Her struggles ceased as she tried to piece together what was going on.  
  
A sudden movement outside of the closet caught her attention. A dark, shuffling shape made its way into the bathroom; she could hear the thing's muffled breath, the rasp of metal on metal...  
  
Sephiroth watched the movement intently; Jaz could just see his left eye, gleaming with its own dim light in one of the shadows cast by the door's slats. His breath was silent and even - practiced.  
  
Jaz realized that she wasn't breathing, and began to make an effort to exhale softly.  
  
The thing stopped near the closet door. She could hear it sniffing, see it raise what seemed to be its head as it tested the air. She began to inhale as slowly as she could, almost choking on the humid air, still heavy with the scent of her bubble bath.  
  
There was suddenly a sharper sound of sliding metal that raised goose bumps on Jaz's skin. She heard a rustling sound. The dark thing seemed to be inspecting the shower curtain.  
  
Then it moved back the way it had come, back out into the suite.  
  
Neither of them moved for what seemed like a very long time, except for Jaz's shaking. Sephiroth eventually lowered his arm from her mouth, and whispered something else.  
  
Jaz raised her head and realized that his awkward position - holding his arm across her mouth - had been because he was holding Masamune with that hand. The sword was braced with its tip against the floor, so that anything coming through the closet door would've hit the blade before it hit Jaz.  
  
He let go of Jaz's arm, releasing her completely, and cautiously slid open the closet door. He stepped out, sword at ready.  
  
Jaz hesitantly followed, still unconsciously holding the towel over herself, though it was just barely useful at the moment. Her blood was pounding in her ears; she didn't feel so well. As Sephiroth peered out into the bedroom, she braced her hand on the opposite wall of the bathroom and stood with her back to him, breathing hard.  
  
After a few moments she stood by herself and thought to wrap the towel around her body so that it would provide more cover.  
  
Sephiroth returned from inspecting the rest of the suite and said something else, in a normal tone of voice this time. He smiled slightly at her, uncertain, then shook his head. He then turned and gestured at the shower curtain.  
  
The curtain had been bunched together at the back of the bathtub. The top half of it still dangled there - but the bottom half had been cleanly sheared off and lay in a heap next to the tub.  
  
Jaz felt dizzy. She sank to her knees next to Sephiroth, who was studying the severed curtain. He ran one gloved finger along the finely cut edge and made a comment.  
  
Jaz started to say something, but the room seemed to be growing dark. She looked up to see what was wrong with the light - then pitched forward in a dead faint.  
  
  
  
"Jaz?"  
  
She opened her eyes, but it seemed to take a moment for them to remember how to function. It didn't help that the image before them made no sense to her. It looked like she was lying on the floor, looking at the base of the bathtub.  
  
"Jaz?"  
  
Someone seemed to be stroking her hair. She turned her head and looked up.  
  
Sephiroth was leaning over her. His hair fell to one side, dimming the light above her like a curtain. He smiled in relief when she focused on him.  
  
Curtain. Shower curtain. The shower curtain was cut very cleanly in half, as though with scissors. But she'd only heard one sound that could account for the cut...  
  
The thought hit her like nightmare ice. Scissors large enough to sever a gathered shower curtain with one cut.  
  
She sat up, narrowly avoiding Sephiroth's head. He dodged back just in time, but didn't leave her - instead he placed one arm around her back to help support her, still stroking her hair with the other hand.  
  
Jaz waved him away without thinking, getting to her feet and almost losing the towel covering her in the process. "What's going on here?" She said out loud, almost breathlessly. "There was this one game that I saw Jamie playing once where the villain was this little monster guy with giant scissors. It was called Clock something. _Clock Tower_. The guy with the scissors - Scissorman - went around killing people like some dumb horror movie..." She was pacing back and forth between the bathroom and the bedroom, her voice rising as she continued. She slid her fingers under her damp hair, tightening them painfully, trying to wake herself up. "What is this, are Playstation villains just out to get me now or something? What _is_ going on?!?"  
  
Sephiroth was suddenly in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to sit on the edge of the bed, and pulled her clenched hand down from her head. "Jaz...?"  
  
She looked into his worried face and made an effort to calm down. "I'm - I'm sorry. I'm all right. I guess I fainted back there. Sorry. This is all just... really weird..." She took several deep breaths, looking away. He was stroking her hair again; she put up a hand to stop him. "I'm okay now," she said as reassuringly as possible, moving his hand away. She looked up to his face again.  
  
It struck her that he'd been afraid for her, and that he'd probably saved her life. She sighed. "It wasn't you that - that killed that girl, was it?"  
  
He didn't respond - of course not - but he backed away slightly, allowing her to stand. He said something softly, looking slightly embarrassed (or was that for her benefit?), and walked to the broken bedroom door. He stood there, with his back turned.  
  
"Oh yeah," Jaz said, blushing. "I guess I should get dressed."  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	14. Chapter 13

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Thirteen**  
  
They crept out into the unusually silent hall, making their way over the remains of the suite's door. Sephiroth sighed and dropped the key card he'd used on the wreckage.  
  
"I wondered where that had got to," Jaz said from in front of him. She had stepped into the hallway first, on the off chance that the police who had been guarding her were still there - though from recent events, it was obvious that they weren't. She was now wearing her jeans and green velour shirt, though she'd laced up her knee-high moccasin boots over the jeans instead of wearing her sneakers. Before he'd let her leave the suite, Sephiroth had given her her trenchcoat. He wanted to leave this place.  
  
Sephiroth, Masamune still held at ready, gestured toward the elevators. Jaz shook her head. "Katie."  
  
The hall was still far too silent. Jaz's breath caught in her throat as they rounded the corner - the cops who had been guarding her room were lying on the floor.  
  
Well, most of them was. Some of them was spread over the walls.  
  
"~~There was a scream,~~" Sephiroth murmured. "~~I thought it was you, for a moment... These two ran toward it...~~"  
  
Jaz looked ill.  
  
They continued down the hall, around another corner, past the second set of elevators, to Katie's suite.  
  
"Oh no," Jaz whispered as they approached. The door was open. She fingered her now untied dagger at her side, then decided that she'd better draw it to be on the safe side. She glanced back at Sephiroth.  
  
He nodded.  
  
They entered Katie's suite.  
  
It was dark; the only light came from the open door and the television, which was running static. They stepped aside so that the light from the hall would illuminate as much of the common room as possible.  
  
There was another cop lying in the middle of the floor.  
  
Jaz and Sephiroth looked at each other.  
  
Jaz began to call, softly. "Katie? Jamie? Where are you?"  
  
There was a small sound of movement from behind the couch. Jaz froze, her heart in her throat. Sephiroth crept toward the couch, one arm outstretched, Masamune held high with the other hand.  
  
He quickly grabbed the edge of the couch and shoved it aside.  
  
The spiky black goblin behind the couch gave a startled yelp and lashed out before he could see what was going on.  
  
"Jamie!" Jaz reached out to him. "Are you all right?"  
  
The boy looked up. "Jaz!" He jumped up and grabbed her around the waist, close to tears. "Katie - "  
  
"Where's Katie?" Jaz interrupted.  
  
"The police took her downstairs to talk to her some more and they left this guy here and I fell asleep for a bit and there was someone at the door..."  
  
"Jamie?" Jaz made him look at her. "It - It'll be okay -"  
  
"It's _not_ okay!" The boy wailed. "This guy's _dead!_"  
  
"I know, Jamie, please calm down," Jaz said, speaking quickly. "Please. Jamie, I know who the killer is -"  
  
"So do I," Jamie said.  
  
"So please don't think I'm crazy - " Jaz thought about Sephiroth and wondered why she even bothered to say that. Then Jamie's words sunk in. "What?"  
  
"I said, so do I. It's Scissorman from _Clock Tower_. Are you, like, a weirdness magnet all of a sudden or what?"  
  
Jaz opened and closed her mouth several times. "Okay. Okay..." She paused, trying to gather her wits. "Okay. I've been thinking about this, and there's two possibilities here. Option one: some maniac has taken on the Scissorman persona. Goodness knows there's enough maniacs here already. Option two: whatever inter-dimensional rift or whatever let Sephiroth into this world, it's letting other... characters through as well." Jaz sat down on the arm of the couch. "What a mess."  
  
Sephiroth glanced at Jaz when he heard his name, then continued to check the suite. Satisfied that they were its only occupants, he took up a position near the door.  
  
Jamie shuddered, carefully not looking at the middle of the room where the body lay. "I think I can make it easy for you," he said to Jaz. "One of the other dealers downstairs had a replica pair of the giant scissors from _Clock Tower_ yesterday, and they were gone today."  
  
Jaz breathed a sigh of relief. "That might narrow it down, yes. I hope."  
  
"Good," Jamie said. "Can we go now? This is kind of disturbing..."  
  
Jaz remembered the dead cop and stood up. "Yeah. Let's get out of here. Get your coat, goblin boy. I'll carry Katie's."  
  
  
  
"You guys shouldn't have gotten suites so high up," Jamie complained when they were halfway down the stairs. "Escaping would be a lot easier from, like, the third floor."  
  
"This was supposed to be my vacation," Jaz growled. She took a few more steps and turned to descend the next flight, a few stairs behind Sephiroth. "Talk to me, Jamie."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Tell me about Scissorman. What's his point, and how do we avoid it?"  
  
"It was a horror game," Jamie shrugged. "Scissorman goes around and kills people. One of the heroines is a girl who survived his original rampage - _Clock Tower_ was actually a sequel to another game, in Japan. Anyway... it's just horror movie rules. Don't go off alone, don't go investigate in the basement when the power mysteriously goes out, don't read mystical passages out loud... Oh, wait, you did have to read a mystical passage in _Clock Tower_..."  
  
"Great," Jaz panted. "So why is Scissorman after me? I'm not a survivor, at least not to my knowledge. I'm not really even a witness. I just found the second body. I wasn't even ever near the first one."  
  
"Uh-uh," Jamie said. "I heard the cops talking earlier. Both of the girls killed had red hair." He swallowed. "The second one was dressed kind of like you, and the first one had books that she'd got from our table, the cops said..."  
  
Jaz stopped. "Good grief, I _am_ a weirdness magnet," she moaned.  
  
Sephiroth paused and turned, concerned; Jaz absently patted his armored shoulder. "I'm fine, keep going."  
  
"Anyway, Scissorman should've made an outright attack on you by now," Jamie said confidently. "So I think we're doing pretty good at the evasive part..."  
  
"He broke into my room," Jaz said, shaking her head.  
  
"He did?" Jamie jumped from behind Jaz to walk backwards down the stairs in front of her. "How did you get away?" He stumbled back.  
  
"Sephiroth threw me in a closet," she said lightly, catching him so that he didn't fall.  
  
"Hey, way to go!" Jamie turned and jumped down another two steps, catching hold of Sephiroth's free hand. "I _knew_ you could be the good guy!"  
  
Sephiroth looked down at the boy and smiled vaguely, without comprehension. Jamie grinned back and skipped the last step to the landing. "This is it," he chirped. "Ground floor."  
  
"Now we just have to find Katie and get out of here," Jaz said, shifting Katie's coat from one arm to the other as she reached the landing.  
  
Sephiroth looked back at them, took hold of the stairwell door's bar, and slowly pushed.  
  
  
  
"It's quiet down here," Jaz commented softly as they walked down one of the main halls on the hotel's ground floor.  
  
"Yeah," Jamie responded. "A little too quiet."  
  
Jaz glared at him. He looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. "Sorry."  
  
Jaz shook her head, smiling in spite of herself. "Let's stay away from the horror movie cliches, shall we?" She handed him Katie's coat. "Your turn to carry it."  
  
"Okay." Jamie shrugged. "Anyway, of course it's quiet. It's three in the morning, and they've got the place locked down tight now. No loud parties tonight."  
  
"Oh yeah," Jaz sighed. "They took Katie to the conference room that they questioned us in before, right? That's right around the corner..."  
  
"I'd guess that's where they'd be," Jamie said. After a few more steps, he thought of something. "Jaz?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How are we going to get Katie from them?"  
  
Jaz stopped. "I hadn't thought about that..."  
  
They stopped at the corner; Jamie poked his head around before anyone could stop him. "All clear," he whispered.  
  
The hall around the corner ran perpendicular to the entry hall of the hotel. The ceiling was higher here, and the wide entry hall branched off to the right a hundred or so feet away. The conference room opened off of the entry hall.  
  
Sephiroth stepped forward to go first, but Jaz laid a hand on his arm. "I'll go first," she said, stepping in front of him to show what she meant.  
  
Jamie rolled his eyes and fell into step on Sephiroth's right.  
  
They were part of the way there when Katie, escorted by two policemen, walked up the stairs from the entry hall, heading for the elevators directly across from the entrance.  
  
Jamie ducked behind a large potted plant.  
  
Katie turned her head and gasped. The cops turned.  
  
It occurred to Jaz, as the cops drew their guns, that both she and Katie had described Sephiroth as the main suspect for the murders. She couldn't let the police separate them again - who knew what they'd do to Sephiroth, and what he'd do... And besides, he'd already shown her that he was trying to protect her, so the safest place to be would be with him... And if they went with the police, it would take forever to convince them that it hadn't been him, and to explain Sephiroth at all...  
  
Jaz took a step back, into Sephiroth, and grabbed his left hand - holding Masamune - in hers. She brought the blade up to her throat, trying to make it look as though she were trying to keep him from bringing the blade nearer. "Please don't, he'll kill me!" She cried with as much fear as she dared let loose. "Don't shoot!"  
  
It wasn't a particularly _good_ idea, but it was all she could come up with on such short notice.  
  
"Jaz!" Katie yelled, terrified.  
  
Sephiroth was confused for only a second, but his eyes narrowed when he saw the firearms pointed at him and Jaz. He didn't like that.  
  
"Put your weapon down," one of the policemen barked.  
  
"Please just back off," Jaz whimpered. She looked directly at Katie. "He said he'd kill me!"  
  
Katie was too scared for the message to sink in right away. The officer holding her arm pulled her backward as Jaz walked forward, trying to appear reluctant, bringing Sephiroth with her. Jaz prayed that Jamie would be smart enough to stay hidden.  
  
"Let the girl go," the cop who had spoken demanded, though he still gave ground. "We don't want this to get ugly..."  
  
Sephiroth didn't understand what they were saying, but from the situation, it was obvious. When he and Jaz reached the elevators, he hit the down button. The elevator door opened immediately.  
  
There were two more cops in the entry hall that they couldn't see.  
  
Sephiroth and Jaz stepped back into the elevator, and to the side. Jaz moved to hit the button to close the doors.  
  
The two cops in the entry hall opened fire almost before she was clear of him.  
  
Jaz screamed and ducked, covering her head. Sephiroth leapt backward and further to the side, stumbling against the back of the elevator as the doors closed.  
  
  
  
"Take the stairwells," the ranking officer commanded. "You two left, you two right. I'll call for backup and watch the elevators."  
  
Katie put a hand to her head, staring blankly at the floor. She started to pace back and forth.  
  
"Ma'am?"  
  
She looked up as the officer finished speaking on his walkie-talkie.  
  
"Are you all right, Ma'am? Maybe you should go back into the conference room..."  
  
"I'm fine," Katie said, obviously distressed. "I - I'll go back in a few minutes, could I just walk a bit first?"  
  
The officer nodded; the elevators weren't moving at all now. Three more cops appeared at the end of the hall, pulling his attention away from Katie.  
  
Katie widened her circle of pacing. Part of the way down the hall that Jaz and... that Jaz had been brought down, she passed a large potted plant.  
  
"Pssst!"  
  
Katie jumped. Jamie was crouched behind the plant, huddled under her coat. His goblin mask was perched on his head.  
  
"Jamie! What - what are you doing here?!?"  
  
"Waiting for you," the boy whispered back. "Did they get away? I couldn't see."  
  
"What do you mean, did they..." Katie's voice trailed off as she realized what Jaz had said to her. "...She said he'd said he'd kill her, and he doesn't speak English," she groaned quietly. "What in the world possessed her to..." The cops intense questioning about Sephiroth came to mind, and she shook her head. "Nevermind. Jamie, we've got to get out of here."  
  
Jamie grinned. "That's the idea."  
  
  
  
Jaz and Sephiroth both remained where they were for a few moments, breathing hard. The elevator was on its way down.  
  
Jaz uncurled, glancing at the door. "That went better than I expected," she said, smiling with the adrenaline rush. She turned to Sephiroth. "Are you all..."  
  
Her voice trailed off in something like disbelief, or horror.  
  
Sephiroth was braced against the back of the elevator, one hand pressed against the wall, having dropped his sword. He was holding his other hand against his chest, which was covered in blood.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	15. Chapter 14

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Fourteen**  
  
"_Sephiroth!_" Jaz jumped up, her hands out to touch him. She stopped herself, afraid of hurting him - she didn't know what she could do. "No," she closed her fists, frustrated. "Please, no, God, please don't let that be as bad as it looks -"  
  
Sephiroth clenched his teeth, eyes squeezed shut, head lowered. He could feel his heart beating, blood seeping out under his fingers in the same rhythm. The tear in his glove grated against the wound; he felt dizzy, and opened his eyes a little. Hurt...  
  
...For a second, when he raised his head a little, he wasn't in the elevator. He was standing on a catwalk inside the Nibelheim Mako Reactor, and Cloud was standing in front of him, on the other end of his sword...  
  
...He looked down again, and saw only the floor of the elevator, with a few red spots underneath him staining the carpet.  
  
The elevator reached the second basement and jerked to a halt. Sephiroth slid down a few inches, but managed to keep his feet under him. Jaz was distressed, close to crying, afraid to touch him. They had to get out of here, to keep moving...  
  
"Masamune," he hissed. "~~Quickly, we have to go...~~" He broke off, coughing reflexively. He could taste blood in his throat.  
  
Jaz bent and snatched up the sword as the doors opened. Sephiroth forced himself forward, staggering. He touched his right hand to Jaz's back for a moment, to steady himself; she immediately stood, taking his arm over her shoulder, trying to help him stand. He tried not to, but after two steps he leaned heavily on her. It was taking most of his concentration to make his feet move...  
  
"The cops," Jaz panted, doing her best to support him. "If I can get their attention they'll call an ambulance -"  
  
Sephiroth stumbled, pulled his feet back under him, and dragged her further into the basement, into a storage area. The sound of machinery here would help to hide them. When they reached an area stacked high with boxes, he turned, pulling away from her, and fell heavily between two of the stacks. He lay on his back, coughing again.  
  
  
  
Four cops arrived in the basement at nearly the same time,two from each stairwell on either side of the elevators.  
  
Their walkie-talkies crackled to life. "Backup is on the way, but the snow's slowing them down," the officer upstairs informed them. "Don't take any unnecessary risks."  
  
"Yes sir," one of the cops coming from the right stairwell responded. His partner pulled a heavy flashlight from his belt and turned it on.  
  
"Yes sir," one of the cops coming from the left answered as his partner did likewise. Both sets of police cautiously advanced toward the elevator bank, checking each corner carefully before proceeding.  
  
They met in front of the center elevator. It was sitting quietly, wide open. One of the cops crept inside and inspected the floor, then spoke into his walkie-talkie. "There's blood. Either the victim or suspect is wounded."  
  
"Understood," the officer on the other end said. "Fan out. Don't let them out of the basement."  
  
The cops split up again - two down the central hallway, to explore and branch out before going on to the rest of the basement, and one in each of the stairwell hallways.  
  
  
  
The policeman that went to the right paced back and forth in front of the stairway for several minutes. Finally the walkie-talkie crackled; he was the first to answer. "Anything?"  
  
"Nothing yet," the cops exploring the basement reported. "What's the ETA on that backup...?"  
  
"Another ten minutes," the officer on the ground floor said.  
  
The policeman by the right stairwell signed out. He hated waiting like this...  
  
"Help!"  
  
The cry came faintly from further down the corridor, away from the elevators. A woman calling. "Help me, please!"  
  
"I can hear her," he quickly called into his walkie-talkie. "Circle around to the right. I'll see if I can keep the suspect's attention..."  
  
He walked toward the cry, holding his flashlight and pistol tightly. This was it.  
  
At the junction in the hallway, he paused, listening. Then he cautiously peered around the corner to the right again, further into the basement - yes, there was blood on the floor here. This was the way they'd come.  
  
He looked down the dark hallway ahead, lined with steam pipes and old boxes. He reached for his walkie-talkie and brought it to his mouth.  
  
"They're further in the basement. I'm at the junction on the right, will wait for backup, over."  
  
Only static answered.  
  
He frowned and glanced at his walkie-talkie -  
  
The antenna had been cut off.  
  
He never even had time to turn around, much less cry out.  
  
  
  
"Sir, we've... oh god. We've found Johnson," the message came over the walkie-talkie in the hand of the officer upstairs. "He's been... cut in half..."  
  
"Get out of there NOW," the officer growled. "The backup will be here any minute, and there's an ambulance on the way..."  
  
The officer signed out and turned around to address Katie. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to go to the conference room now..."  
  
Katie was nowhere to be seen.  
  
  
  
A chill ran down the spine of the policeman guarding the left stairwell. "I'll wait for you by the elevators," he called to the other two cops, almost running down the hall to wait in that well-lit area.  
  
Just as he reached it, the lights in that corridor went out.  
  
He snapped on his flashlight, quickly panning it around the room. Nothing.  
  
He turned back to the elevator, craning his neck to see the lights of the side halls. A shadow moved in the hall to the right.  
  
"Chester, Smith, is that you?" he called, shining his flashlight in that direction.  
  
The flashlight beam glinted on metal.  
  
He could see what looked like a heap of black material, possibly with a person underneath, topped with a grotesque latex mask. It was holding out what seemed to be a ridiculously oversized pair of scissors. The heap of material shuddered, then began to move towards him. The giant scissors opened and closed.  
  
The cop drew his pistol. "Freeze!"  
  
The figure shuffled closer, making a sort of gurgling sound.  
  
"Stop, or I'll shoot!" The cop realized that his words had no effect, and began to fire.  
  
The bullets didn't seem to have any effect, either.  
  
He couldn't back up fast enough, and kept firing. Two of the shots caused the figure to stagger.  
  
The scissors suddenly moved with blinding speed, and the pistol stopped firing. It fell to the floor with a wet-sounding thud.  
  
The cop screamed, looking at the bloody stump that now ended his arm.  
  
The scissors flashed again. He stopped screaming.  
  
  
  
The other two cops were nearly running as they came back to the elevators. "Mark? Mark!"  
  
One of their flashlight beams caught the severed hand, and followed the blood to what lay beyond...  
  
"We have to get out of here," one of them - Chester - snapped, grabbing his walkie-talkie. "Two officers down, we need that backup right now! We're coming up!"  
  
The other cop, Smith, made a move for the open, lit elevator that the suspect and his hostage had come down in. Chester stopped him, and pushed the button to call one of the other two elevators. They stood back to back, Smith shaking badly, waiting for the other elevator to arrive.  
  
Both of them jumped at the elevator's chime, but piled in as soon as the doors opened. The elevator barely rested in the second basement for a minute before it was headed up again.  
  
  
  
Several carloads of police began to pile into the front hall of the hotel, stomping snow off of their boots. A detective forced his way through. "You!" He called to the officer standing nervously in front of the elevators. "You're in charge here? What's going on?"  
  
"We've got two men down. I've ordered the other two to pull out, they're coming up in the left elevator now."  
  
"The ambulance was five minutes behind us," the detective said. "The roads are awful. We almost lost control coming down 579..."  
  
There was suddenly a burst of shouting and gunfire from the left elevator shaft. Almost in unison, all of the police in the entry hall stiffened and drew their weapons.  
  
The elevator chimed, and the doors opened.  
  
It was very red inside; the light was flickering, damaged, probably from the gunfire.  
  
Something rolled out, across the carpeted area in front of the elevators, down the three steps to the entry hall, and came to a rest near one of the new officers, who began to gag. It was Chester's head.  
  
The hatch to the top of the elevator hung open. Smith's legs dangled from the portal.  
  
The detective, now in charge of the situation, lowered his weapon. "Oh boy."  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	16. Chapter 15

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Fifteen**  
  
Jaz knelt next to Sephiroth, still holding the sword in her right hand. "S-Sephiroth?"  
  
He opened his eyes - it was becoming difficult to see. There wasn't much time. His hand felt heavy as he lifted it to uncover the wound. He tried to remember what he wanted to do.  
  
He could hear Jaz. She was honestly crying now, her hands moving uselessly over his chest, his neck, his face... "Oh god, oh god, please," she was saying, over and over...  
  
He remembered. "Masamune," he breathed, trying to raise his hands.  
  
Jaz lifted the sword and placed the handle in his hands. "Please - please don't kill yourself or anything," she said quickly. "I'll - I'll go get help -" She started to rise.  
  
Sephiroth moved with surprising quickness, catching her wrist and bringing her back down to her knees. He turned his head to the side brought the handle of the sword up near his face, fumbled a moment, and finally released the catch.  
  
Jaz started in surprise, but didn't move, and no longer spoke. There were tears running down her face. She had no idea what he was doing, or what he meant to do with the smooth gems that had been hidden in the hilt of his sword. She only knew that he was going to die, and he wouldn't let her leave. He wanted her to stay with him.  
  
Sephiroth slipped the green cure-stone into his hand, dropping the sword as he did so. The other Materia spilled out onto the floor.  
  
Jaz raised her hand, moving the sword away so that it fell on his other side, and raised one hand to his face. He opened his eyes when she touched him, and looked up at her. His hand holding the green gem moved to the wound. He closed his eyes again, taking her other hand in his.  
  
She looked down at him with rising dread as his features relaxed. His breathing evened, slowed...  
  
His hand holding hers fell open.  
  
"Seph...?" She touched his neck, but couldn't find his pulse. Her hand flew back to lie against the side of his face. "Seph - Sephiroth! Wake up, please don't - please don't -"  
  
His eyes opened, still and calm.  
  
Jaz nearly shrieked. She dropped his hand like a live coal and jerked back.  
  
He turned his head and looked at her, and smiled slightly. And sat up.  
  
Jaz's jaw dropped.  
  
"You -" She slowly shook her head, eyes wide. "You were dying - How -"  
  
Sephiroth looked down, opening his hand. The green gem rested there, stained with blood, but still gleaming slightly. He took Jaz's hand in his and touched it to the wound.  
  
Only there was no wound. There was blood, and the skin where it had been seemed tender, but the flow of blood had stopped, and there was no wound.  
  
Jaz looked up at his face - his head was tilted, and he was half-smiling at her. He was fine.  
  
She finally remembered to close her mouth.  
  
Sephiroth got to his feet, bringing her up with him, and let go of her to brush himself off. He stopped and looked at his filthy clothing, and sighed with the futility of it.  
  
Jaz stood, staring at nothing, trying to wrap her mind around what had happened. She could deal with worlds crossing, and with murders, but this - this was _magic_. Real, honest-to-goodness magic, such as was not supposed to exist at all in this world.  
  
Sephiroth crouched and picked up each of the gems that had spilled from his sword, placing them back in the handle. He closed the sword handle when he finished, and slipped the sword onto his back as he stood.  
  
It occurred to Jaz that, when she and Katie had watched the film _The Highlander_, they had joked that the line "I am Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, and I cannot die" was the best pick-up line ever, for no good reason.  
  
She thought now that she could understand the effect that a line like that could have, in reality.  
  
In this reality.  
  
Sephiroth tilted his head again to look into her face, and said something, still smiling. He moved a hand to brush her hair away from her face, realized that his glove was blood-soaked, and thought better of it. He moved to walk past her.  
  
Jaz didn't think. She grabbed him, one arm around his waist and the other reaching across to his opposite shoulder, and stood on tip-toe and kissed him.  
  
Sephiroth was startled, and pulled back. Jaz immediately released him, suddenly blushing, and moved away, head lowered. "I'm - I'm sorry, I didn't think... I didn't mean..."  
  
"Jaz?" He said softly, reaching for her. She lifted her head, turning to him -  
  
Somewhere else in the basement, several shots were fired, and someone screamed.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	17. Chapter 16

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Sixteen**  
  
"Jamie, are you sure about this?" Katie asked in a whisper. She and her nephew approached the garage entrance at the other end of the building and three floors down from the entrance hall.  
  
"Well, Jaz didn't have time to say where to meet, but she wanted to leave," Jamie responded. "So they'll come to the garage, I guess."  
  
"Great." Katie looked up at the security camera over the desk. "They must be really busy; nobody's come looking for us yet."  
  
Jamie tugged at the handle of the glass door. "It's locked."  
  
"Just a minute," Katie said, searching her coat pockets. "I've got... here." She produced a bobby pin, and used her teeth to remove the plastic coatings on its ends. "It won't be locked for long..."  
  
  
  
While wending their way back through the basement, Jaz and Sephiroth ran across a cleaning closet with a sink. Jaz waited inside the door, nervously watching the shadows outside, as Sephiroth cleaned himself as best he could.  
  
"Um," Jaz began, and stopped. Her voice sounded loud, and she could've sworn that it echoed in the concrete hallway. Neither of them had spoken since they'd heard the shots and the scream, and Sephiroth had barely glanced at her since then - he walked with Masamune drawn, keeping her behind him.  
  
She tried again. "Um... what are we going to do? That... thing... Scissorman. It's out there, and it's after me, isn't it? So we should get out of here. We can't go to the police. We have to get out of here. So we should go get Katie and Jamie and drive out of here..." She trailed off and began to search her coat pockets. "Uh... great. No car keys. Okay, Katie can drive..." She took a breath. Sephiroth had looked up at her, but said nothing. She nodded. "Glad that's settled. We'll need to get upstairs, hopefully without attracting the cops' attention, so we've got to find a different stairwell. There's the stairs at the front and the stairs with the elevators in the Atrium by the ballroom, and there's another set at the back by the parking garage, where we came in..."  
  
Sephiroth finished, patting himself dry with a somewhat grimy towel that was hung above the sink. At least he wasn't covered in blood any more. He tucked his near-ruined gloves into his belt, picked up Masamune from where he'd leaned it, and turned to look at Jaz again. She was speaking, almost to herself. She was afraid.  
  
He touched the side of her face, and she fell silent, looking up at him with her cat-green eyes. He smiled in spite of the situation, but said nothing - only took her hand and, after carefully checking the hallway, led her further into the basement. Sooner or later, they'd find another set of stairs.  
  
Sooner or later, he'd have to admit to himself that Jenova was right - Jaz was, for now, his. Perhaps he could even make himself believe that he only wanted to keep her because of Jenova's dislike for her. At least while Jenova was occupied with Jaz, dangerous as that was, she wasn't up to something worse...  
  
  
  
"Katie, you've been at this for a while now," Jamie said, leaning closer to watch his aunt trying to pick the lock. "Can I try?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Please?"  
  
"No, Jamie, I've almost got it," Katie growled. "There... almost... got it!"  
  
The door clicked.  
  
A red light next to the security camera began to flash, accompanied by a loud buzzing.  
  
Jamie rolled his eyes. "Way to go."  
  
Katie threw the bobby pin to the floor, growling something else, but yanked the door open anyway. "I'll warm up the car."  
  
  
  
A loud buzzing suddenly filled the dim concrete hallway; Jaz jumped. "Somebody set off an alarm," she said out loud.  
  
They rounded a corner to find a metal door. A flashing red light was reflected through the door's window.  
  
Jaz and Sephiroth stopped in front of the door. Sephiroth looked behind them, frowning, his grip on his sword tightening slightly. Jaz glanced at him, then pushed open the door...  
  
...which opened into the bottom of a stairwell. There was another door opposite them - the red light came from there. Jaz cautiously looked through that door's window, then without hesitation shoved that door open. "Jamie!"  
  
Jamie whirled around. "You made it! Katie went to get her car -"  
  
"Freeze! Police!"  
  
"Oh great, _now_ they show up," Jaz groaned, ducking down behind the open stairwell door and motioning Sephiroth to stay behind her. "Jamie, you and Katie get out of here!"  
  
"But -"  
  
_"I said freeze!"_  
  
"Just get going!" Jaz pulled the door shut behind her, and she and began to run up the stairs. Sephiroth hesitated only a moment before following her.  
  
Jamie turned, saw the angry-looking police bearing down on his right, and ran for the door. He opened it and ran into the garage.  
  
A gray Ford screeched to a halt, a foot away from hitting him. Katie opened the door. "JAMIE! What do you think you're -"  
  
Jamie ran to the passenger side and jumped in. "No time! Cops! Jaz said go!"  
  
Katie reacted to his words before fully processing them. She jammed the car into gear and headed for the exit ramp as fast as she could. Several cops spilled into the garage behind her.  
  
"Strap in," she snapped at Jamie, making the turn onto the exit ramp at as high a speed as she dared. The front bumper scraped against the concrete wall on the turn; Katie gritted her teeth.  
  
After the turn, it was a straight run up to the exit. "Yes!" Jamie almost squealed. "Go! Go!"  
  
Katie floored it. The car sped toward the exit...  
  
...And, on the slope a few feet inside the opening, stopped.  
  
Jamie gripped his seat belt. "What -"  
  
"Ice!" Katie yelped.  
  
The front of the car twisted to one side and slid backward. Katie took her foot from the gas, but couldn't react in time to stop the car as it wedged itself sideways in the ramp tunnel.  
  
With a dazed expression on her face, Katie unfastened her seat belt and opened her door, staring in horror at the damage. "My car..."  
  
"Don't move!"  
  
Three cops were standing a few feet away, guns drawn and aimed her.  
  
Katie gave a weak smile. "Uh... Hi."  
  
  
  
Seven floors up, Jaz finally slowed down, breathing hard. Even Sephiroth was showing a little fatigue. "We need to get back to my suite to get my car keys," she told Sephiroth, cautiously opening the door into the seventh floor hallway. "But... but let's take a breather, okay?" She almost staggered to the water fountain opposite the stairwell, and drank deeply.  
  
She stood back, motioning for Sephiroth to drink. There was a sudden rumble - the elevator next to the stairwell was being used. Both of them watched it warily for a moment, then Sephiroth turned and drank as well.  
  
"It wouldn't be the cops," Jaz reasoned. "I don't know if they saw me, and even if they did, they wouldn't know what floor to stop at with the elevator, so they wouldn't have taken it, right?"  
  
She looked at Sephiroth for confirmation, knowing that she wouldn't get it. He turned and smiled at her reassuringly; he had no idea of where she was leading them now, but he would stay with her and protect her anyway.  
  
Jaz just stared for a moment as he turned away again, looking up and down the hall. He frowned for a moment, closing his eyes and raising a hand to his face as he turned away - then shook his head, murmuring something. "~~Jenova...~~"  
  
Jaz noticed, as Sephiroth turned, that his hair was still untangled and smooth. Probably more magic, she decided, feeling slightly giddy. What a convention this was turning out to be...  
  
The elevator chimed.  
  
Both of them jumped, backing away to the left as the doors began to open. The light inside the elevator was off.  
  
Sephiroth caught Jaz's arm, beginning to raise his sword.  
  
The doors opened just barely enough for a person to pass through.  
  
A misshapen form burst out of the dark elevator, preceded by the open blades of a giant pair of scissors.  
  
Sephiroth brought Masamune up in a parry, twisting so that the scissors were wrenched from their wielder's grip. As soon as the sword was free of the scissors, he was turning, pulling Jaz with him as he began to run.  
  
They turned the corner at the end of the hall, and skidded to a halt. It was a dead end; this short hallway ended in a tall set of windows.  
  
The lights in the hallway flickered, then went out.  
  
Down the hall and around the corner, the sound of excitedly rasping metal approached.  
  
Sephiroth let go of Jaz, walked several paces back down the hall, and stood to block the way. He held Masamune poised, shining in the glow of the city lights outside the window.  
  
Jaz focused on the window, pounding at the lock, trying to force it open. There was a ledge outside.  
  
The dark, animalistic shape rounded the corner, then moved to the middle of the hall, making grunt-like noises that could have been laughter.  
  
The scissors opened and closed. Even in this darkness, they looked sharp.  
  
Jaz kicked at the window. It was supposed to open like double doors, but the latch was rusted shut on the outside. She turned, the panic rising in her throat. "Sephiroth -"  
  
He looked back at her, then at the approaching Scissorman. If this attacker disabled him for even a moment, it would have a clear shot at Jaz, and she'd have nowhere to run.  
  
He spun around and slashed at the window twice, and kicked it, sweeping Masamune onto his back in one smooth motion. With the hinges and the latch severed, the left half of the window fell outward.  
  
There was no time. He leapt lightly out and onto the ledge along the wall outside, reaching back to take Jaz's hand.  
  
With a roar, Scissorman lunged.  
  
Sephiroth pulled hard as Jaz stepped through the window frame; she lost her balance and swung outside. The Scissorman followed a little too quickly - the grotesque thing howled and plunged seven stories down to the snow-filled alley below.  
  
Sephiroth pulled Jaz up so that she could get her footing on the windowsill and crawl back inside; he followed as soon as she was in.  
  
He turned and looked down at the black shape in its crater of snow far below. Jaz stood next to him, then almost unconsciously ducked under his arm and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his chest as if she could hide there.  
  
He took a breath as if to protest, then thought better of it and allowed his arm to fall around her shoulders. "~~Your world is nearly as strange as mine,~~" he said softly. "~~More deceptive, I think.~~" He knew that what he said was unimportant; it was the tone of his voice that would calm Jaz.  
  
For once, Jenova was silent. She'd said nothing to him since stalling him in the kitchen. Directing this murderous creature must truly have drained her strength. Just before the elevator had opened, he'd felt something - as though Jenova had called out, but not to him - but that was all.  
  
Sephiroth was reluctant to leave the window, but it was cold, and Jaz drew him away. He couldn't shake the feeling that Jenova hadn't given up yet.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	18. Chapter 17

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Seventeen**  
  
Jamie made himself as small as he could, perching like a spiney black sparrow on a stool behind the hotel's front desk. "I really would like to be with Katie," he said, twisting back and forth nervously. The desk was in the front hall of the hotel, and the hall was high ceilinged and naturally dark.  
  
"The detectives want to question you two separately," the rookie assigned to guard him said. "It's gotten pretty messy here, so you just stick with me, okay? I'll make sure that nothing happens to you, and then the detectives will come get you and talk to you, and then you and your aunt can get back together."  
  
"You don't understand," Jamie sighed in despair. "We can't be apart. I shouldn't be out here with just you, there should be more of you cops here."  
  
"There's plenty of us here, but we've got to search the hotel," the rookie said. He glanced up at the hotel's glass front doors and frowned. He thought that he'd seen movement... probably just snow blowing around. "It's a big job. There's a killer loose here, and we have to find him."  
  
"It's not the guy with the silver hair," Jamie said, as he already had several times since his and Katie's capture. "It's someone else. It's a monster called Scissorman."  
  
"Yeah, kid, I gotcha," the rookie sighed. Poor kid probably had a screw loose to begin with...  
  
Jamie suddenly gasped, pointing. "Behind you!"  
  
The cop spun around. There was nothing there. "What?"  
  
"There! The screensaver!"  
  
The rookie looked at the monitor on the desk behind him. The screen was black, and the word "KILL" was spelled out in red letters, bouncing back and forth on the screen.  
  
The rookie groaned and reached back to turn off the monitor. "There, happy? Now we know what the desk attendants here think of their work. That's all it is, kid."  
  
The power went out.  
  
Jamie squeaked.  
  
"...Great, just great," the cop muttered, reaching for his flashlight. "Come on, don't be scared. Probably just a car hit a pole or something, knocked the power out - I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, what with the snow and all..."  
  
Jamie sat stock still, terrified. He began to sniffle.  
  
The cop began to feel distinctly uncomfortable. "Awww, c'mon, kid, it's just a black out," he said, switching on his flashlight. "Can't I do anything to cheer you up?"  
  
"Probably not," Jamie whispered.  
  
"Here, check this out," the man said, remembering something he'd seen on television once. He held the flashlight above and to the side of his face, giving himself a soft spotlight. "Romance -" he quickly shifted the flashlight to underneath his chin, accentuating every shadow on his face. "- horror movie." He shifted the light back to above his head, and back under his chin again. "Romance, horror movie. Romance, horror movie..."  
  
Jamie stopped sniffling, relaxing slightly.  
  
"There, see?" The rookie said. "Don't worry. It's not a -" he moved the flashlight under his chin, made an "Urk!" sound, and pitched forward.  
  
The flashlight twirled in the air, then illuminated a latex face that didn't need the extra lighting to be grotesque. "Horror movie," Scissorman's guttural voice snarled. One hand held the flashlight, and the other held the giant scissors, with the cop's blood running down the blades.  
  
Jamie jumped from the stool, giving an inarticulate yell. Landing on the desk counter, he sprinted down its length, jumping the powerless computer monitor. He paused only to kick the monitor toward Scissorman. At the end of the desk he jumped, rolling as he hit the hard marble floor, and ran for the short flight of stairs leading to the main elevators and the conference room where Katie was again being questioned.  
  
He could hear the scissors rasping behind him.  
  
Jamie tried doors; most were locked, and a few were too heavy for him to spend time opening. The fact that the hallway was pitch dark, illuminated only in spots by the dimming emergency floodlights, did not help matters at all. He wanted to avoid taking more stairs if he could; that would only tire him out faster.  
  
One door opened easily: the bathroom. In the game _Clock Tower_, Scissorman had been rather slow to catch on to the bathroom - you could hide in stalls repeatedly. Then again, in the game, Scissorman had been rather slow, period - but had eventually caught on to his prey hiding in bathroom stalls.  
  
Jamie gave the door a good shove so that it would loudly bang shut. He then ran down the hall, into the central atrium, and down the emergency access hallway next to the ballroom. At the hall's end he ducked into the ballroom rather than taking the stairs.  
  
He wished that he were with Katie.  
  
  
  
The power went out.  
  
"That's _all_ we need," Detective Ramsey snapped impatiently, pulling his flashlight out. This woman Katie still insisted that she and her live-in friend had heard about the murders from a mysterious blonde woman that morning, and even though both of them had earlier fingered a hitch-hiker that Ms. Zelazney had brought to the convention, Katie now denied that he'd had anything to do with it. Even though this stranger was apparently holding her friend hostage, though he himself hadn't yet arrived for that bit of excitement. Then Katie had tried to flee with her nephew...  
  
Ramsey had long since decided that Ms. Zelazney, Katie, her nephew, and anyone involved with them was of questionable sanity.  
  
"Malloy, Brazen, go see what's going on now," he instructed two of the officers in the room. "Now, Ms. Sanderson, tell me everything you remember about this informant of yours," he continued.  
  
"Again?"  
  
"Again."  
  
"Okay... blonde woman, big round blue eyes. She dyed her hair, you could tell because her eyebrows were dark. She had long hair in pigtails when we saw her, but she was in costume at the time..."  
  
"Sailor Moon. Yeah, we got that part..."  
  
"Sir!" The two officers had returned rather quickly.  
  
"What is it now?" Ramsey whirled around angrily to face them.  
  
"Fisher's been murdered too, sir -"  
  
"Fisher?"  
  
"The rookie we had watching that boy," the other officer said. "He was stabbed -"  
  
"That's it," Ramsey growled, turning to the assembled officers and detectives. "Fan out again, in groups. Each group take a stairwell." He glared at Katie. "Ms. Sanderson, you'll come with me. We'll watch the atrium."  
  
  
  
Jamie crouched on his hands and knees under a table in the ballroom. He peered out from under the tablecloth, breathing as quietly as possible, heart pounding. He'd seen the front door of the ballroom open soon after he'd hidden; Scissorman lurked somewhere in the room's vast darkness.  
  
He heard voices. Someone was in the emergency access hall.  
  
He heard shuffling, then saw the door to the access hall crack silently open.  
  
Whoever was out there was going to die.  
  
Jamie screamed as loudly as he could. In the red emergency lighting of the hall, he saw Scissorman's face, turning to glare balefully in his direction. The hallway's door was yanked open from the other side. Cops.  
  
Jamie rolled out from under the table and ran the other way, going through the door opposite the emergency exit. This door led to a catering area for the ballroom, similarly lit by dying floodlights.  
  
He saw something on the far wall that made him breathe faster with hope - a sliding metal door. He crossed the room and opened it.  
  
_Yes!_ It was a dumbwaiter.  
  
  
  
Scissorman stood over the rapidly cooling bodies of two more cops. It looked to the right.  
  
_Stairway._  
  
_Seventh floor._  
  
_Quickly._  
  
  
  
Sephiroth and Jaz sat in the hallway around the corner from the broken window. Jaz was snuggled against his chest, sleeping from exhaustion; he held her loosely, falling asleep himself.  
  
Sephiroth's eyes snapped open. He realized that he'd been dozing, and that he could feel Jenova's presence - fading now, but she'd been there... He stiffened, sitting more upright, turning his head slightly. He could hear something else now.  
  
Jaz jolted awake upon feeling him tense. "What...?" she whispered, pulling away. Then she heard it too. Voices.  
  
The floodlights that had come on when the power died were losing strength - they weren't meant to be used for so long. By their dimming glow, Jaz and Sephiroth stood and made their way to the other end of the hall.  
  
The hallway opened out onto the balconies lining the atrium in the center of the hotel. The voices were coming from the first floor.  
  
One voice suddenly stood out. "I'm telling you, Jaz has nothing to do with it! You've got it all wrong!"  
  
"Katie!" Without thinking, Jaz ran past Sephiroth to the edge of the balcony.  
  
"Jaz?" Katie called back, coming into view on the balcony across and several floors down from them. "Where have you been?!? Have you seen Jamie? What's -" She stopped as Sephiroth joined Jaz at the railing.  
  
"Scissorman attacked," Jaz called back. "We haven't seen Jamie since the garage -"  
  
"Scissorman?!"  
  
"You stay right there, Ms. Zelazney!" Ramsey barked, flashing a badge. "Pittsburgh Police -" He noted Sephiroth's protective stance slightly behind Jaz. "What kind of a freak show..." he muttered before shouting, "And you with the white hair. Put the pig-poker down."  
  
A door behind Katie and Ramsey suddenly burst open. Jaz yelped. Ramsey whirled and waved his pistol in that direction, failing to be surprised by the intrusion. "What now?!"  
  
"Jamie!" Katie rushed forward, scooping up the figure that tumbled out of the service closet. "Where have you _been_? Your Dad's going to _kill_ me -"  
  
"I-I used the dumbwaiter," Jamie panted. "I was looking for you - Scissorman's downstairs in the ballroom with some cops..."  
  
"That would be Malloy and Brazen," Ramsey mumbled. He was about to shout something else to Jaz and Sephiroth, but they had disappeared. "Dammit," he growled, then pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Malloy, Brazen, what'cha got down there?"  
  
Static.  
  
"Malloy, come in..." He banged the walkie-talkie with his hand, then swore softly.  
  
"It's like some weird episode of _Scooby Doo_," Katie said with an oddly vacant expression. "I'm Velma, Jaz is Daphne, you're Fred, and Sephiroth must be the guest star, 'cos he's sure not Shaggy..."  
  
Ramsey glared at her.  
  
"Who does that make me?" Jamie jumped in.  
  
"You're Scooby," Katie sighed. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine as long as I don't think too much," Jamie answered, fear lurking behind his eyes.  
  
"Good," Katie said. "Don't think. I tried, and I've pretty much lost it..."  
  
"I think I'll have to agree with you there," Ramsey muttered.  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


	19. Chapter 18

**Bright Seraphim**  
**Eighteen**  
  
"What did Jamie mean, Scissorman?" Jaz panted, running for the emergency stairwell with Sephiroth close behind. "I thought we got rid of him... are there two of them?" She slammed open the door of the stairwell. "We've got to get down -"  
  
A black shape lunged at them from the lower flight of stairs.  
  
Sephiroth pushed Jaz out of the way, toward the upward flight of stairs, and they were running up again.  
  
As soon as there was at least a flight of stairs between them, Jaz began to try the doors on each floor - but none of them would move. "This is supposed to be an emergency stairwell!" She panted, pounding up the next set of stairs. "Why are all these locked?"  
  
"~~Save your breath for running,~~" Sephiroth told her, becoming winded himself. He pulled her away from a door just as Scissorman reached the landing in the stairs below.  
  
Jaz ran ahead, around the next landing, up another set of stairs, onto the next landing -  
  
Sephiroth had been looking back and almost ran into her. Jaz was kicking at the windowless metal door in front of her. He turned to the next flight of stairs -  
  
Only there were none. They were at the top of the stairs.  
  
The door suddenly gave way. It had been unlocked, but the snow drifted in front of it had made it difficult to open.  
  
Jaz paused for only a moment before crying, "There must be a fire escape or something!" and rushing to the nearest edge of the roof. She looked down. There was no fire escape, only the street, many, many floors below.  
  
Sephiroth pulled her back and led her across the roof, down to a lower part, and through the middle of a large drift of snow that had accumulated over some feature of the roof. There was a fire escape on the far side of the building, directly ahead.  
  
Metal screamed against metal close behind them; Scissorman was standing on the higher level of the roof, looking down at them. He began to laugh. "Geh-heh-heh-heh..."  
  
Sephiroth took his battle stance, his eyes never leaving the enemy.  
  
"Geh-heh-heh..." Scissorman leapt into the air with surprising agility and landed heavily on the snowdrift with them.  
  
There was an ominous cracking sound, felt more than heard.  
  
It wasn't a snowdrift at all. It was one of the snow-covered skylights over the atrium. They were all standing on one pane of glass.  
  
Between the cold and the weight, the snow-covered glass snapped and shattered.  
  
Jaz shrieked; Scissorman gave an angry howl. Sephiroth let go of Masamune and grabbed Jaz around her waist, reaching out blindly with his other hand.  
  
The atrium was ringed with vertical banners, hung from poles set at the tenth floor balcony. Sephiroth caught one of these. Jaz realized what was happening and threw her arms around his neck.  
  
They momentarily jerked to a halt; Sephiroth screamed as his shoulder dislocated.  
  
Then they were falling again, but swinging this time. The banner had torn free, but the nylon rope that controlled it was still attached to the support pillar at the tenth floor.  
  
They slammed into the pillar. Sephiroth lost his grip and they fell the rest of the way, crashing through a canopy sheltering a group of tables spreading out from the hotel's coffee shop.  
  
Scissorman hit the gazebo in the center of the atrium, plunging through its roof and deflecting slightly to land in the shrubbery beside it.  
  
Masamune clattered loudly onto the cobblestone patio several feet away from Jaz and Sephiroth.  
  
The atrium was quiet for a few long seconds.  
  
A choking gasp tore through the silence. Jaz struggled for breath; the wind had been knocked out of her. She was bruised, but fairly certain that nothing was broken.  
  
There were footsteps. Katie, Jamie, Ramsey, and a few other policemen appeared at various levels of balcony around the atrium. They'd heard the crash.  
  
Jaz grunted and rolled onto her side, then sat up, drawing her legs underneath her. "Sephiroth..."  
  
He was laying next to her, on his back, his dislocated arm lying across his chest. At her call he turned on his side and curled into a near-fetal position, groaning.  
  
He'd been hurt worse than this before, but the only times that he'd felt this much pain were when Jenova was causing it, or when she was too weak to influence him. He hadn't realized how dependent he'd been on her...  
  
Jaz moved forward, touching the side of his face. He looked up at her, giving her a weak smile that was closer to a grimace. "Your sword," Jaz murmured. "It's here... I'll get it for you."  
  
"Jaz!" Katie called from the balcony. "Are you -"  
  
"I'm fine," Jaz yelled back, finally turning to acknowledge her presence. She looked around for the sword.  
  
Sephiroth pushed himself into a sitting position. The leg he'd hit the wall with hurt as well, but he was sure that it wasn't broken.  
  
"There it is," Jaz said, rising to her hands and knees and reaching out for the sword. She brought it with her as she pulled back to sit on her knees.  
  
Sephiroth looked up just as Jaz handed him his sword, catching a movement behind her.  
  
Jaz looked over her shoulder.  
  
Scissorman was still alive, covered in blood with its mask torn away, and standing right behind them.  
  
"Look out!" Ramsey drew his pistol and aimed at Scissorman.  
  
Only Scissorman wasn't a man. It was the woman from the elevator, the one who had told them about the first murder.  
  
The scissors were wide open, resembling a double-pointed sword.  
  
She struck before anyone could move. One blade of the scissors stabbed into Jaz. The point ripped through the front of her shirt just under her left breast, piercing between her ribs.  
  
Katie screamed.  
  
Ramsey fired; the bullet tore through the madwoman's shoulder, but had no noticeable effect.  
  
The blonde woman, still wearing the Sailor Moon pigtails, laughed with glee. Blood trickled from the side of her mouth. She staggered backward a few steps, pulling the blade out of Jaz.  
  
Masamune's handle sprang open in Sephiroth's hand, and he didn't think. Instead of touching the green Restore Materia - for which he didn't have the magic to heal himself, much less Jaz - he touched a red Summon Materia. He plucked it out and made a fist around it, calling on the most powerful spell he could with what magic he had left.  
  
"~~Pandora!~~"  
  
The floor in front of the demented woman broke apart into blackness.  
  
Jaz tumbled forward; Sephiroth caught her in his good arm, dropping the Materia. He became aware of Jenova lurking next to him, smiling broadly.  
  
The blackness blazed green with Mako-light. A sphere of white light arose from it; the glow faded to reveal a dark-haired woman in revealing black robes, adorned with twists of golden wire that stood out against her pale skin. Her eyes were empty black wells; her sandaled feet stood on air.  
  
Sephiroth lay Jaz across his lap and used his good arm to attach Masamune, handle closed, to his back. He couldn't speak. His hands felt slick with her blood.  
  
Jenova laughed and began to speak in a singsong. "~~Yes, boy, yes, mine mine mine...~~"  
  
He felt numb, couldn't think. Only the pain in his shoulder kept him focused.  
  
The summoned apparition presented a small, dark, carved wooden box in her hand. It was only a few cubic inches in size.  
  
Jaz struggled for breath, blood pumping out of the wound. Sephiroth could do nothing but hold her; this wound was worse than the shot he'd taken... If he could've avoided that, he thought, he'd still have enough magic to heal her...  
  
The Grecian apparition opened the box. A thousand and one black shapes poured out of it - shapes with too many teeth and horns and claws and scales and stingers.  
  
The woman who had been Scissorman now stood upright, dropping the giant scissors. She screamed once.  
  
The black shapes threw themselves at her, one at a time but with increasing speed, each taking a piece of her away. Then they fled into the dark pit over which Pandora hovered.  
  
The blonde woman fell to her knees, sobbing; the pieces that the black shapes had removed were not physical. She picked up the scissors again, placed the razor-sharp blades around her neck, and slammed the blades closed.  
  
Her head tumbled across the floor and came to rest at the edge of the pit.  
  
Sephiroth wasn't watching. He curled around Jaz, head bowed. She was too weak to try to move any more.  
  
Jenova was singing mockingly. "~~Good girl, sleep, angel, sleep...~~"  
  
Pandora held her box open a moment longer, her face still expressionless, a lifeless mask.  
  
A tiny sphere of golden light floated calmly out of the box.  
  
The summoned woman snapped the box shut and clutched it in one hand, forming a fist with her other hand. She folded her arms across her chest and bowed her head, drifting down into the pit.  
  
The glowing sphere circled the atrium at high speed. It stopped a foot in front of Sephiroth.  
  
His head jerked up.  
  
There were silent tears running down his face, which now held a strange and wild expression.  
  
Hope.  
  
Jenova fell silent.  
  
As the ball of light moved away, Sephiroth threw Jaz - now unconscious - over his shoulder and stood. He knew it was rough on her, but there was nothing else he could do.  
  
He took a step and nearly faltered - his leg was hurt worse than he'd thought.  
  
He didn't care.  
  
He crossed the rest of the short distance to the pit. The golden sphere plunged down into the darkness.  
  
Sephiroth looked up at the first floor balcony. Most of the cops' mouths were hanging open. Katie was reaching out toward him. Jamie was shouting something and looked more excited than frightened.  
  
"Go! Go! Now!"  
  
Sephiroth stepped forward, into the pit.  
  
There was another flash of green Mako-light.  
  
The pit was gone.  
  
The only sound in the atrium was the rustling of papers floating down in the suddenly still air.  
  
"Jaz," Katie choked.  
  
Jamie ran, down the steps from the first floor to the atrium, then across to where the "battle" had taken place.  
  
Seeing him unlocked his aunt's voice. "Jamie! Get away!"  
  
"Huh?" The boy looked down. The former Scissorman's pigtailed head was staring up at him.  
  
He gave the head a spiteful kick and kept going.  
  
"JAMIE!!!"  
  
Katie and the police were running down the stairs now as well. Jamie had the feeling that none of them were going to be too happy with him.  
  
Some other people were appearing on balconies, wondering what all the noise was about. A few of them - some of those from the Space Station Monongahela - had seen what the noise was about.  
  
Jamie fell to his knees and groped about the floor until he found what he was looking for - the red Summon Materia. He wiped Jaz's blood off of it with his shirt, then held it up to the pallid moon showing through the broken skylight. The clouds had cleared at last.  
  
"Boy! Put that down!" Ramsey yelled. "That's evidence!"  
  
Jamie only laughed, slipping the useless stone into his pocket. "Evidence of _what?_"  
  
Ramsey looked around, losing his momentum. "Nevermind."  
  
Katie picked up one of the atrium's overturned chairs and sat down, placing her head in her hands. "God," she whispered, calling the word as a name rather than an expletive for the first time in years. "Jaz..."  
  
Jamie uprighted another chair near his aunt. "Aunt Katie? Are you okay?"  
  
She looked at her nephew as though he were insane, and figured that he probably was by now. "Jaz. She's... She's... gone," she said haltingly. She was having trouble finding words.  
  
"But that's _good,_ Katie," Jamie exclaimed. At her incredulous expression, he added, "Don't you get it? Sephiroth took her back with him. He'll be able to heal her now."  
  
Katie blinked with incomprehension. "I don't -"  
  
Jamie became impatient. "Don't the words 'happily ever after' mean anything to you?"  
  
Katie's face relaxed as she stared at him. Then, very slightly, she smiled.  
  
A song ended; another began.  
  
  
  
**End: Bright Seraphim**  
The Author sincerely intends to complete the sequel, **Dark Nephilim**,  
but will only post when it nears completion (so as not to annoy people).  
  
**Further Author's Note:** The track "Injection" from the _Mission Impossible 2_ score (by Hans Zimmer) has turned into my soundtrack for the end sequence, though I had that written before that movie came out.  
And, um, Thank You For Your Support. Those reviews mean a lot to me! :-)  
  


* * *

**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.  
  


* * *


End file.
